Health Insurance began its journey in India in 1948 with the Employees State Insurance Scheme (ESIC). A social security scheme for blue-collar workers working in factories and other organized sectors. The first Mediclaim insurance policy was launched by General Insurance Corporation (GIC) in 1986, and since then, the Health Insurance
Business of India has never looked back.Today there are 25 general insurance companies and 5 standalone health insurance companies doing Health Insurance business in India. These insurers have developed several products like Health Insurance Plans, Maternity Plans, Family Floater Plans, Senior Citizen Plans, Super Top-up Plans, Group Health Insurance Schemes, Critical Illness Plans, Disease-specific Plans for Dengue, Malaria, COVID-19, Cancer and much more.
Check out the best health insurance companies doing business in India. Here you can check out their claim record along with the number of network hospitals providing cashless claim service to their customers.
| HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY | Health Claim Settlement Ratio FY20 | NETWORK HOSPITALS |
|---|---|---|
| Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company (Now HDFC ERGO) | ||
| Bajaj Allianz Health Insurance Company | ||
| Bharti AXA Health Insurance Company | ||
| Cholamandalam Health Insurance Company | ||
| ManipalCigna Health Insurance Company | ||
| HDFC ERGO Health Insurance Company | ||
| IFFCO TOKIO Health Insurance Company | ||
| Max Bupa Health Insurance Company | National Health Insurance Company | |
| New India Health Insurance Company | ||
| Oriental Health Insurance Company | ||
| Raheja QBE Health Insurance Company | ||
| Reliance Health Insurance Company | ||
| Care Health Insurance Insurance Company | ||
| Royal Sundaram Health Insurance Company | ||
| Star Health Insurance Company | ||
| TATA AIG Health Insurance Company | ||
| United India Health Insurance Company | Aditya Birla Health Insurance Company | |
| ICICI Lombard Health Insurance Company | ||
| Universal Sompo Health Insurance Company | ||
Disclaimer.: The Incurred Claim Ratio has been sourced from IRDAI Annual Report, and the network hospitals numbers have been compiled from the Insurance company’s website. Last updated on 08-04-2021
Uniqueness is the only thing that makes a company stand out from the competition. Every company tries to offer something different to the people to carve out space for themselves. As you are different from the person next to you, the criteria for choosing the best health insurance company will also be different for you.
You need to look at various aspects before you can find the answer to this critical question, “Which is the Best Health Insurance Company in India for Me?”
Look at these factors that you must consider while comparing various health insurance companies to determine the best health insurance company.
1. Choice of Various Health Insurance Plans
Look at the different health insurance plans available with the insurer. It might be possible that the insurer is offering just a health insurance plan and a family floater plan only. You might need a family floater plan and senior citizen plan, which is not available with this insurance company.
2. Cashless Hospital
Look at the number of hospitals empanelled by the insurance company for providing you cashless claim services. A more extensive network of hospitals might not always be best for you. Suppose an insurer might have, say, 5000+ network hospitals, but none of them is near your place of residence, so it would be wise for you to look at an insurer that has many hospitals near your locality.
3. Incurred Claim Ratio
Remember a healthy claim ratio signifies that the insurance company is true to its word and honours the claim when it is raised. Incurred Claim Ratio stands for the claim paid against the premium received by the insurer in a financial year.
4. Availability of Customer Support Service
Check whether the health insurance company has a dedicated 24 x 7 customer support service or it is available only during business hours, like 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on business days, i.e. Monday to Saturday. A health insurance company with a 24 x 7 customer service team must be your go-to insurance company.
5. Business Done Till Date
Look at the amount of business done by the health insurance company to date. Check out the no. of policies sold and the amount of premium collected; this will give you a good idea about the market share controlled by the health insurance company. It also tells us that a lot of people have placed their trust in this health insurance company.
6. Claim Settlement Process
Check the claim settlement process too, if a health insurance company has a complicated claim process, requires submission of a lot of documents and needs you to complete a lot of paperwork, it is best to move to an insurer with a more straightforward claim settlement process.
7. Reviews And Ratings
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are the best places to check out the reviews and ratings earned by a health insurance company. The reviews and ratings posted by existing customers is an excellent way to know more about the insurance company.
8. Awards and Accolades
Go to the health insurance companies website and check out the various awards won by the insurer. This way, you will know more about the insurer and what they have accomplished for winning this award.
9. Customer Support
What are the different channels of communication available with the health insurance company. Can you contact them by email, chat, Toll-free phone numbers, branch visit? To become the best health insurance company on your list, an insurer should have various communication channels. It helps you contact them seamlessly when the need arises.
10. Online Digital Presence
Does the health insurance company have an online digital presence? If yes, it makes your tasks of renewal and claim intimation much more straightforward and more effortless. You can log in to the health insurance company’s customer portal and complete the required tasks with ease. You don’t have to visit the insurer’s branch office and submit many documents or fill complicated forms.
Just follow these steps, and we will do the rest.
It is not mandatory for employers in India to offer health insurance to their employees. It is left to the discretion of employers to decide whether they want to offer this benefit to their employees.
Yes, you should definitely buy health insurance from your employer in case the organization offers such a benefit. If you feel that the coverage offered by this corporate health insurance policy is not sufficient to meet your requirements, you can supplement it by purchasing a separate policy.
There are NO standalone health insurance companies run by the government of India. However, there is 1 Life Insurance and 4 general Insurance companies under the Public Sector which provide health insurance products to the public.
Health insurance companies have a varied range of plans that they have designed to cater to different health needs of individuals across ages, illnesses, etc. Applicants who meet the required criteria of a plan, as mentioned in the policy document, are eligible for purchasing it. Generally, health plans do not have stringent eligibility criteria, with certain exceptions being related to pre-existing illnesses, medical check-ups, etc. The health insurance plan pays for the medical expenses up to the sum insured in a particular policy year.
There are two kinds of claims that health insurance companies settle - cashless claims and reimbursement claims. Every insurance company has their stipulated timeframes for settling both types of claims.
Yes, most leading health insurance companies in India enable policyholders to switch to other companies through the portability feature.
Health insurance companies have a network of authorized hospitals. A policyholder of a certain insurance company can avail cashless benefits on hospitalization and medical expenses incurred in any of their network hospitals by showing their cashless health card subject to approval by the insurance company.
The below is the list of standalone health insurance companies in India:
Health insurance companies have a varied range of plans that they have designed to cater to different health needs of individuals across ages, illnesses, etc. Applicants who meet the required criteria of a plan, as mentioned in the policy document, are eligible for purchasing it. Generally, health plans do not have stringent eligibility criteria, with certain exceptions being related to pre-existing illnesses, medical check-up, etc. The health insurance plan pays for the medical expenses up to the sum insured in a particular policy year.
There are two kinds of claims that health insurance companies settle - cashless claims and reimbursement claims. Every insurance company has their stipulated timeframes for settling both types of claims.
Solvency ratio refers to the size of the capital of an insurance company involved in the ongoing claims at a certain point of time with respect to all the risks undertaken by it. The ratio is a measurement of its current assets versus its liabilities in the form of commitment for claim settlement..
Almost all health insurance companies are offering cashless hospitalization facilities to you. CARE Health Insurance has the highest number of hospitals empanelled on its network, followed by HDFC ERGO, Star Health, Aditya Birla Health Insurance, Reliance, and so on. You can check the table above to know the number of hospitals empanelled by an insurance company.
The top 5 private health insurance companies based on Incurred Claim Ratio (ICR) for the financial year 2018-19 are as under:
Yes, almost all health insurance companies are offering cover for organ donor expenses. This benefit is available as an in-built feature or through an add-on. Before you decide, it is recommended to go through the product brochure and confirm what is included and excluded from the health insurance plan.
It is a big myth that has plagued the health insurance sector. Health Insurance Plans are available in India with benefits that go beyond just hospitalization. Health insurance offers benefits like Pre and Post-Hospitalization, domiciliary treatment, organ donor expenses, ambulance expenses, daycare procedures, OPD expenses, and much more.
Yes, you can easily port your health insurance plan from one company to another. Our Article on “All You Wanted to Know About Health Insurance Portability” (https://www.coverfox.com/health-insurance/articles/health-insurance-portability-all-you-wanted-to-know/) gives you all the details required for porting your existing health insurance plan to a new insurance company.
Diabetes specific health insurance plans cover medical expenses arising due to diabetes. Diabetes Safe Insurance Policy from Star Health Insurance Plan, Energy from HDFC ERGO, Care Freedom from Care Health Insurance are some of the plans that you can look at to take care of your medical expenses arising out of diabetes.
There are 5 standalone health insurance companies and 25 general insurance companies offering health insurance products in India. In short, there are 30 companies providing health insurance to the vast population of India.
For the financial year 2019-20, based on the Incurred Claim Ratio, IFFCO TOKIO General Insurance Company is the best health insurance company.
The standalone health insurance companies operating in India are:
The 4 public sector general insurance companies offering health insurance in India are:
There are 21 private general insurance companies offering health insurance products to the people of India.
