Health insurance, which is popularly known as medical insurance is a type of insurance policy that offers comprehensive protection against expensive treatments so a person can get quality treatment whenever required. It protects you from paying heavy medical bills when you are injured or have fallen ill. Just like other insurance policies, you need to select a plan and agree to pay a definite amount as a premium. In return you will get several benefits of owning a health policy.
When it comes to buying health insurance either for you or for family, you will come across many doubts; like how much insurance is sufficient for you? Where to buy? Whether you can afford it or not? Which one to buy? Which is the best health insurance company?
According to IRDA report 2012-2013, there are 17 private general insurance companies, 4 Public Sector biggies and 4 individual Health Insurance companies.
{Source: IRDA report 2013-14}
As there are many health insurance companies, it becomes quite difficult to choose the best out of them, but we will make it easy for you. Here, we guide you through the top 5 health insurance companies in India based on their past performances and claim settlement ratios. Most of the health insurance companies offer separate policies for individual, family, senior citizen, etc. When you select a health insurance policy, you must select the best health insurance company in India with favorable reviews. The policy should compulsorily cover hospitalization expenses, surgery fee, medicines cost, day care treatment, nursing allowance etc.
Apollo Munich Health Insurance
Apollo Health Insurance Company provides much acclaimed health insurance policies and best cashless facility. On choosing the individual health insurance plan, the consumer will get benefits like restore benefits, no claim bonus and for family health insurance, there are family plans that cover the entire family under a single policy.
Other features include no additional loading at the time of renewal, 100% no claim bonus and great sum insured. For senior citizens, the company is providing insurance cover with features of lifelong cover for self and spouse, 5% discount for every claim free year, cashless coverage across network hospitals and no claim based loadings on renewals. The company is a JV between Apollo Hospitals Group and Munich Health, which is a leading organization when it comes to health insurance.
ICICI Lombard
ICICI Lombard is basically a joint venture between ICICI Bank Limited and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. This organization was established in 2001 by Hargav Dasgupta. It is one of the largest general insurance companies in the private sector. The company products include policies such as ICICI Lombard Health Insurance, ICICI Lombard Overseas Student Medical Insurance, International Travel insurance, ICICI Lombard Home Insurance and ICICI Lombard Car Insurance.
ICICI Lombard provides a great range of healthcare products like ICICI Lombard Complete Health Insurance, Personal Protect and Health Care Plus. The company aims at providing maximum coverage through their health plans.
Max Bupa Health Insurance Company
Max Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd. (Max Bupa) is basically a joint venture between Max India Limited and the UK based healthcare services, Bupa. It is one of the fastest growing health insurance companies in India. It provides a wide array of health insurance policies, with maximum sum insured and budget deals. It has different types of health plans starting from the coverage of heart ailments to complete hospitalization cover. The plans of Max Bupa carry unique features and benefits that are hard to get in any other company. Apart from the basic cover, the company also provides coverage for maternity expenses, new born baby, vaccination expenses and much more. The best thing about this company is that they settle claims directly without any third party involvement. It also provides unique Health Relationship Program that is especially designed for its dedicated customers who renew their policy without any break.
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited
It is a joint venture between Bajaj Finserv Limited and Allianz SE. Both enjoy a status of expertise, stability and strength. This insurance company received the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) certificate of Registration on 2nd May, 2001 to perform various business activities (including health insurance business) in India. The company has an authorized and paid up capital of Rs 110 crores. Bajaj Finserv Limited holds 74% and the remaining 26% is held by Allianz SE. Health insurance policies offered by them include Health Guard (Mediclaim), Silver Health (Senior Citizen) and Star Package (Family Floater). There are other policies also like Hospital Cash that gives a fixed sum on every day of hospitalization and Critical Illness that offers a lump sum in case the policyholder contracts one of the critical illnesses listed for e.g. cancer, during the policy period. Bajaj was the first company to come up with a confined TPA with ensuing efficiencies.
Religare Health Insurance
Religare Health Insurance Company Limited is one of the leading providers of health insurance policies in India. The shareholders of this company comprise of three strong entities; Religare Enterprises Limited, a chief diversified financial services group based out of India, Union Bank of India & Corporation Bank. Religare was started by the founders of Fortis hospitals that manage 68 hospitals all over the India.
SRL Diagnostics, Asia's largest network of diagnostic labs with around 1100 collection centers and Religare Wellness, a countrywide chain of stores providing pharmacy and wellness products are also part of the company. This allows people an in-depth access to various healthcare services. Religare Health Insurance Company was started in the year 2012 and in a short span it has earned the trust of people by providing helpful policies with great features. It allows consumers to get quality treatment at more than 4000 hospitals in the country.
Things to Consider While Selecting a Best Health Insurance Company
When it comes to health insurance, there are few things that you should keep in mind while selecting the insurance company. As the insurer is the only one who will pay for your investment at the time of claims. Hence it becomes necessary to choose the right one out of all. Here is the list of major things that you must check while choosing any insurance company for your protection.
– Price Tag
It is true that you can't put a value to any life, but when it is about selecting a health insurance company, you need to do a bit of research and some number crunching. The best idea is to use an online insurance web aggregator that can assist you in selecting the best health insurance company by comparing. It hardly takes a few minutes in accessing the desired results. It will tell you the exact price of the policy, its features, exclusions and disadvantages among others and allows you to compare different health insurance policies by top insurers. You should ensure that the insurance company you shortlist offers a pricing that is within your budget
– History
An insurance company may attract you with flashy advertising, but as an investor it is essential for you to check company's history. You should track company's records as it plays a vital role in making an effective decision while buying appropriate health insurance. Check the company's claim ratio on the website of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and the ratings that are available on the websites of almost all companies. The IRDA will list out all the essential attributes about the company on its website that will include its past record, claim ratios, pending claims, complaints among other things that will directly assist you in choosing the right policy for you.
– Size
It might take a few more minutes, but it will assist you in knowing the insurance company better. You should check out some essential numbers that include market share, total assets, growth ratio, financial ability etc as this will help you in choosing the appropriate plan which can provide the desired results.
– Service Quality
This is another important factor while making your purchase decision. Check how the insurer treats their customers. You must take a call based on the type of service that the insurance companies have towards potential customers like you. Are they accountable to reply to your questions, whether on call or in person? Are they patient in their approach or do they look too busy in making sales pitch without understanding the consumer's financial requirements. These are some of the queries you must ask before making a decision.
– Complaints and Reviews
Most people do not pay attention to this aspect, but it is vital to look for the reviews by other people about the company and its products. Even though a few of it might be fake, but most of the complaints and reviews should not be ignored. This will surely provide a fair idea about which company to believe and which you should keep away.
Selecting an insurance company may not be an easy task, as you have to pay attention to many factors and need to do proper research before short listing any one company. If you are having trouble in selecting a insurance company by yourself, take the help of online insurance web aggregator that will help you in making a purchase decision.
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