The world has changed in 2020 in terms of health, immunity, and keeping safe. And we are yet again reminded of the importance of health insurance.
When it comes to insurance, a good percentage of people in India have life insurance. Why life insurance sells is probably because we want to think about some relief to the family in the event of our untimely demise.
Life insurance also works as an asset. After a fixed term, we get back the principal amount plus all premiums paid along with an interest margin.
However, the same is not applicable to health insurance. Health insurance ensures you or safeguards you against costs incurred for health-related complications that need you to be admitted to a hospital or a similar medical facility. A health insurance plan does not offer back the sum it took as the principal amount and the premium amounts.
Always remember, health insurance is also an investment. You’ll always get the tax deductions of up to RS. 25000 premium.
For most developing countries, or countries where there is a high disparity in per capita incomes, health insurance is a luxury. Forget the poor – most middle class and upper-middle-class people do not own health insurance here.
Indian Women and Health Insurance
Women fare far worse than men when it comes to buying health insurance. From a very personal perspective, I thought of health insurance only when I had my baby. I wanted to be insured against probable threats to my life because I wanted to be there to see my baby grow up.
While that may sound selfless & motherly to most people, I can tell you that it is a downright foolish assumption to think that health insurance is not for you until you have a heavier responsibility on your shoulders, like that of caring for your children or aged parents.
It is also ironic how we think of life insurance helping our families after our departure when we can, instead, secure our health better. A lot of people without insurance die premature deaths in hospitals out of the stress of paying hospital bills.
So health insurance also brings about a sense of relief. Knowing that you are better insured against illness-borne expenses is assuring and comforting.
But all said, the cost of owning health insurance matters. With rising expenses, the one person we often neglect is ourselves. That makes most of us completely discard the idea of health insurance.
Thankfully, most government organizations in India have their employees and their immediate family covered under health insurance plans. A lot of privately-owned businesses too provide health insurance benefits to their employees and their immediate family (parents, child, spouse).
However, the number of people who do not own health insurance far outnumbers the number of people who do. This post is aimed at those numerous fellows who can afford health insurance but don’t yet because of numerous reasons, including cost.
Points to Consider when buying Health Insurance
Before we move on to the top 15 low-income health insurance available in India, let us quickly check the points we need to keep in mind while choosing health insurance :
- Who we are buying for – ourselves or for family.
- The premium amount and the coverage offered for the same.
- The waiting period i.e the period when all the benefits of the insurance coverage get activated. This is more to be considered when buying health insurance for senior members of the family.
- Checking what is covered and what isn’t.
- Whether Cashless treatment benefits are offered.
- If the plan covers pre-hospitalization and post-hospitalization benefits, especially when buying for seniors.
- Coverage of domiciliary or at-home treatment.
- Whether maternity and new-born health-related costs are covered.
We now bring to you 15 low-income Health Insurance plans that don’t punch a (man)hole in your finances. These insurances are cost-friendly yet beneficial to a huge extent for most worst-case hospitalization scenarios.
1. HDFC ERGO Health Optima Restore Plan
HDFC, one of the leading financial institutions of India has collaborated with German insurance company ERGO to provide insurance services in India. The company has a number of cost-affordable insurance plans, and the Health Optima Restore is one that is quite popular.
As per their official website, the premium for an individual under 40 for a 5 lakh coverage will be around Rs. 5000 – Rs. 8000 per year. There are a number of benefits covered like free renewal health check-ups, mental health coverage and AYUSH (alternative treatments of Ayurveda, Unaani, Siddha and Homeopathy) coverage. This makes the Health Optima Restore one of the most affordable low-income health insurance in India.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : 3 lakhs – 50 lakhs
Network of Hospitals : 10,000+
Waiting Period : 3 Years
Age Covered : 5 years to 65 years
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of HDFC ERGO Health Optima Restore Plan here .
2. HDFC ERGO My:Health Suraksha
Another pocket-friendly offer from HDFC ERGO health insurance services is that the My:Health Suraksha plan. This plan offers income tax savings, domiciliary treatment, and daycare hospitalizations. The plan also offers a bonus for every claim-free renewal.
The My:Health Suraksha plan also covers organ donor expenses. Compared to the benefits offered, this plan is affordable and budget-friendly.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : 3 lakhs – 50 lakhs
Network of Hospitals : 10,000+
Waiting Period : Varies, minimum 30 days
Age Covered : 18+ Years
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of HDFC ERGO My:Health Suraksha here.
3. Care Health Insurance (previously known as Religare)
Care Health insurance, which a lot of us know better as Religare, is a well-known name when it comes to insurance. The Care Health Insurance plan provides a host of benefits and covers a network of more than 11000 hospitals. This makes it one of the most recommended insurance plans in the low-income health insurance category.
Some of the notable features of the Care Health Insurance plan are ambulance coverage, no claim bonuses, pre and post hospitalization coverage and organ donor expenses coverage.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : 4 lakhs – 6 crores
Network of Hospitals : 11,000+
Waiting Period : Varies, minimum 30 days
Age Covered : 3 months onward
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of Care Health Insurance here.
4. Aditya Birla Activ Assure Diamond Plan
One of the striking features of the Activ Assure Diamond Plan from Aditya Birla group is their air ambulance coverage.
This plan also comes loaded with a lot of features that can come in handy in today’s stressful times like extra coverage for cancer hospitalization, health coaching coverage and AYUSH treatment. Their website is user-friendly and they have active customer support to take in customer queries.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : 2 lakhs – 2 crore
Network of Hospitals : 6000+
Waiting Period : 2 years
Age Covered : 5 years onward
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of Aditya Birla Activ Assure Diamond Plan here.
5. Max Bupa Health Companion
This Max Bupa Health Companion plan premium starts from Rs. 5085 per year as advertised on their website. This is quite affordable seeing the benefits it offers. The benefits include emergency ambulance, day-care treatment, AYUSH treatment coverage, organ transplant expenses and domiciliary coverage.
The Health Companion plan can be safely concluded as a recommended health insurance plan in the low-income health insurance group.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : Up to 1 Crore
Network of Hospitals : 4500+
Waiting Period : 2 Years
Age Covered : 3 months onward
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of Max Bupa Health Companion Individual here.
6. Manipal Cigna Prohealth Plus
The Manipal Cigna Prohealth Plus is an affordable family floater plan. It covers maternity, newborn and vaccination coverage. For a premium amount of Rs. 15,307 (as per their website), you will get a coverage of up to Rs. 50 lakhs.
Apart from maternity coverage, the Manipal Cigna Prohelth Plus also extends the benefit of an air ambulance. The plan also provides medical checkups and wellness programs.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : Rs. 2.5 lakhs – 2 crores
Network of Hospitals : 6500+
Waiting Period : 3 months
Age Covered : 3 months onward
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of Manipal Cigna Prohealth Plus here.
7. Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme Plan
The Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme family floater plan covers 19 different relations within the same policy. It also gives coverage for maternity expenses. There is also a nutritional allowance for the new mother. For the Individual plan, there is no upper cap on room rent. Vaccination for animal bites is covered in the individual plan – a good feature for people with pets at home.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : 5 lakhs – 50 lakhs
Network of Hospitals : 5000+
Waiting Period : 2 years
Age Covered : 18 years onward
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme Plan here.
8. Star Family Health Optima Insurance Plan
Star Insurance is one of the top 3 insurance providers in India. Stat Insurance is known for its quick claim settlements. The insurance provider has a large network of hospitals under its wings, and some extra benefits covered.
Some of these benefits are assisted reproductive treatment, a grace period of 4 months for renewal, and newborn baby coverage.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : 1 lakh – 25 lakhs
Network of Hospitals : 9900+
Waiting Period : 4 years
Age Covered : 18 years onward
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of the Star Family Health Optima Insurance Plan here.
9. Bharati AXA Smart Health Assure Plan
The Bharati AXA Smart Health Assure Plan is perfect for couples who are planning to extend their family. It covers maternity expenses and newborn baby expenses for the first 3 months.
Bharati AXA has more than 98% claim settlement record, as per their website. The Smart Health Assure Plan is a suitable insurance plan for individuals and families looking for low-income health insurance.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : 3 lakhs – 4 lakhs
Network of Hospitals : 4500+
Waiting Period : 2 years
Age Covered : 3 months to 65 years
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of Bharati AXA Smart Health Assure here.
10. IFFCO Tokio Health Protector Policy
IFFCO Tokio offers a family coverage of 2 adults and 1 child at a premium of less than Rs. 10,000 a year for upto 3 lakhs. This is as affordable as it can get for a nuclear family.
The Health Protector Policy has cashless treatments benefits and offers covid-treatment benefits. Medical testing is not needed for people upto 60 years of age.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : Rs. 50 thousand – 25 lakhs
Network of Hospitals : 5000+
Waiting Period : 4 years
Age Covered : 18 years – 65 years
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of IFFCO Tokio Health Protector Policy here.
11. Digit Health Insurance Plan
The Digit Health Insurance Company is a new entrant in the Insurance sector. They have an amazing website that very clearly explains the need for health insurance. The insurance plans seem to have been constructed keeping the needs of the millennials and Gen Z in mind.
The Health Insurance plans from Digit cover psychiatric illnesses. They also cover maternity and newborn expenses. Their “What’s Not Covered” section is surprisingly small, and very to the point.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : 2 lakhs – 25 lakhs
Network of Hospitals : 5900+
Waiting Period : 2 years
Age Covered : 1 year to 60 years
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website Digit Health Insurance Plan here.
12. National Parivar Mediclaim Plus Policy
National Insurance company is the leader in insurance providing services of India. It has been in the insurance sector since 1906.
The National Parivar Mediclaim Plus policy has been one of the widely bought family floater plans in India. Their website explains very clearly what is covered and up to what sum or number of days. The Parivar Mediclaim Policy also has Plan options to choose from as per the requirements of families.
Type of Insurance : Family
Sum Insured : 6 lakhs – 50 lakhs
Network of Hospitals : 6000+
Waiting Period : 2 years
Age Covered : 18 years to 65 years
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of the National Parivar Mediclaim Plus Policy here.
13. Future Generali Future Health Suraksha Plan
The Future Generali Future Health Suraksha Plan is a recommended low-income health insurance for families. The Health Suraksha Plan comes with 4 options to choose from – Gold, Platinum, Topaz and Ruby.
The website details out each plan option, and makes it easy to understand what is covered and not. It also offers free health checkups and 30 days of grace periods for renewal.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : Rs. 50,000 – 10 lakhs
Network of Hospitals : 5000+
Waiting Period : 2 years
Age Covered : 18 years – 65 years
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of Future Generali Future Health Suraksha Plan here.
14. Bajaj Allianz Health Guard Plan
Bajaj is a trusted name in India, and their health insurance plans are also affordable and within the reach of the common man.
The plan covers mental illnesses, health checkups and allows multiple relations to be covered in the family policy. There are also discounts offered on claim-less years, for up to 12.5 % of the policy amount.
Type of Insurance : Individual | Family
Sum Insured : 1.5 lakhs – 50 lakhs
Network of Hospitals : 6500+
Waiting Period : 3 years
Age Covered : 18 years – 65 years
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of Bajaj Allianz Health Guard Plan here.
15. Oriental Health Individual Mediclaim Policy
Oriental Health Individual Mediclaim Policy is an individual mediclaim policy good for young, unmarried people. The company has a dedicated team for claims settlement and has a network of over 4300 hospitals under it.
Though targeted at individuals, the policy offers family discounts. It also offers a grace period and guaranteed policy renewal for life. This is definitely a plan to check if you are looking for low-income health insurance plans.
Type of Insurance : Individual
Sum Insured : 1 lakh – 10 lakhs
Network of Hospitals : 4300+
Waiting Period : 4 years
Age Covered : 18 years to 65 years
Covid 19 Covered : Yes
For more details, and for calculating a premium appropriate to your age, please visit the official website of Oriental Health Individual Mediclaim Policy here.
Are you and your family covered under any of the low-income health insurance plans mentioned here?
Do let us know how well the plan has benefitted you.
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