A health insurance policy is an agreement between a health insurance company and policyholder whereby the insurance company assures to pay a predetermined amount towards the medical expenses of the policyholder for treatment of a predetermined illness or accident. The policyholder pays a premium to the health insurance company to get this medical coverage.
Most financial experts believe a health insurance policy is considered to be an essential part of all financial portfolios, as most often the savings of an individual are drained by the expensive treatments of medical illnesses. People without sufficient savings, compromise on such expensive treatments.
Hence, to be able to fulfill all other financial goals, having a health insurance policy is a must.
How to evaluate the best Health Insurance companies:
The first step in finding the right best health insurance policy in India is to evaluate the best Health Insurance companies by comparing them on the below-mentioned attributes:
- Claim Settlement Ratio (CSR)
The claim settlement ratio is one of the most important points of comparison. You can get the CSR figure of every health insurance company in India from the IRDAI annual reports, it denotes the percentage of claims settled by an insurance company against all claims received in a year.
It is recommended to select insurance companies having higher CSR for the purchase of the best health insurance plans in India.
10 Best Health Insurance Companies in India based on Claim settlement ratio:
| Sr No. | Insurance Company | Claim Settlement Ratio |
| 1 | Care Health Insurance Co. | 95% |
| 2 | Niva Bupa Health Insurance Co. | 96% |
| 3 | Star Health Insurance Co. | 90% |
| 4 | Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co. | 94% |
| 5 | DIGIT Health Insurance Co. | 96% |
| 6 | Reliance Health Insurance Co. | 100% |
| 7 | Royal Sundaram Health Insurance Co. | 89% |
| 8 | Oriental Health Insurance Co. | 89% |
| 9 | Liberty Health Insurance Co. | 94% |
| 10 | Future Generali Health Insurance Co. | 92% |
- Incurred Claim Ratio (ICR)
ICR indicates the financial ability of health insurance companies to pay claims. The ICR value is calculated using the value of claims paid against the total premiums received in a year.
It is recommended to select insurance companies having higher ICR for the purchase of the best health insurance plans in India.
10 Best Health Insurance Companies in India based on ICR:
| Sr No. | Insurance Company | ICR |
| 1 | Edelweiss General Insurance Co. Ltd. | 113.05% |
| 2 | National Insurance Co. Ltd. | 101.09% |
| 3 | The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. | 112.51% |
| 4 | United India Insurance Co. Ltd. | 104.24% |
| 5 | Acko General Insurance Ltd. | 84.64% |
| 6 | Future Generali India Insurance C. Ltd. | 90.04% |
| 7 | IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Co. Ltd. | 99.49% |
| 8 | Raheja QBE General Insurance Co. Ltd. | 97.22% |
| 9 | Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. | 93.96% |
| 10 | Universal Sompo General Insurance Co. Ltd. | 111.23% |
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- Solvency Ratio
The solvency ratio indicates the financial stability of an insurance company as it compares all assets and inflows against the liabilities and outflows.
It is recommended to select insurance companies having a higher Solvency ratio for the purchase of the best health insurance plans in India.
10 Best Health Insurance Companies in India based on solvency ratio:
| Sr No. | Insurance Company | Solvency Ratio |
| 1 | Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. | 3.45 |
| 2 | Raheja QBE General Insurance Co. Ltd. | 3.66 |
| 3 | Shriram General Insurance Co. Ltd. | 3.63 |
| 4 | ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd. | 2.90 |
| 5 | Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd. | 2.22 |
| 6 | Care Health Insurance Ltd. | 2.45 |
| 7 | Tata AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd. | 2.22 |
| 8 | Liberty General Insurance Ltd. | 2.92 |
| 9 | The New India Assurance Co. Ltd | 2.13 |
| 10 | Navi General Insurance Ltd. | 2.12 |
- Cashless Hospital Network:
Health Insurance companies in India have tie-ups with a list of national and international hospitals for providing cashless medical treatments to the policyholder.
It is recommended to select insurance companies that have a long list of network hospitals for the purchase of the best health insurance plans in India.
10 Best Health Insurance Companies in India based on network hospital:
| Sr No. | Insurance Company | Network Hospitals |
| 1 | Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd. | 12000+ |
| 2 | Care Health Insurance Ltd. | 19000+ |
| 3 | Niva Bupa Health Insurance Co. | 8600+ |
| 4 | Bajaj Allianz Health Insurance Co. | 7,600+ |
| 5 | HDFC Ergo Health Insurance Co. | 13000+ |
| 6 | Aditya Birla Health Insurance Ltd. | 10000+ |
| 7 | Reliance Health Insurance Ltd. | 8000+ |
| 8 | Royal Sundaram Health Insurance Co. | 11000+ |
| 9 | Tata AIG Health Insurance Co. | 7000+ |
| 10 | ICICI Lombard Health Insurance Co. | 6500+ |
How to evaluate the best health insurance policy in India:
Even when you make up your mind to get a health insurance policy, finding a policy that would match your insurance needs isn’t an easy task as there are over hundreds of policies available in India. New policy buyers are confused and unable to decide which is the best health insurance policy in India for them.
- Sum assured and the cost of coverage:
Since the sum assured and premiums are directly related, you get the lower sum assured for lower premiums and vice versa.
You can evaluate different health insurance policies by comparing the premiums for a certain sum assured and then select the best health insurance policy in India which offers a certain sum assured at the lowest premium.
- Check the scope of coverage:
It is very essential to check the scope of coverage of the health insurance policy you buy as it contains details related to specific inclusions and exclusions within the policy like pre- and post-hospitalization coverage, COVID-19 coverage, day-care treatment, etc.
You can evaluate the best health insurance policy in India by comparing their scope of coverage and select the health insurance policy which offers limited exclusions or specific exclusions that you want an insurance provider to cover in a policy you buy.
- Check the waiting period for specific diseases:
Health Insurance policies don’t cover you against all illnesses from day one. For a few predetermined diseases, you need to wait a particular period (days/months/years) to be eligible to raise a claim for treatment.
You can evaluate the best health insurance policy in India by comparing the predetermined medical treatments they cover under the waiting period clause and selecting the health insurance policy which has no waiting period for it.
- Check the sub-limits for specific diseases:
The health insurance policy might have sub-limits on certain treatments. A sub-limit means the insurance provider will provide partial coverage for treatment of a predetermined illness, even though your sum assured is higher than the total cost of treatment.
For example, if a policy has a 50% sub-limit on cataract treatments, then irrespective of your claim amount being under the total sum assured limit, the settlement amount will be 50% of the cost of treatment.
You can evaluate the best health insurance policy in India by comparing the predetermined medical treatments they cover under a sub-limit clause and select the health insurance policy which has no sub-limit for specific diseases if you want full medical coverage.
- Additional Benefits:
All health insurance companies have some form of additional benefits like one free annual check, free medicines, additional top-up, top-up refill, etc. which may vary from company to company.
You can evaluate the best health insurance policy in India by comparing the additional benefits they offer and if you see these benefits as useful to you.
- Customer service and online reviews:
It’s difficult to evaluate the quality of customer service before you have purchased a health insurance policy. You may view the ratings and read reviews of the customer service experience on the internet for any Insurance company, however that does not guarantee good customer service.
Hence, it’s recommended that you buy a health insurance policy from an insurance agent or advisor who can be your point of contact for most of your customer service requirements and also guide you in choosing the best health insurance in India.
Best health insurance policies in India that are evaluated based on the above parameters:
| Sr No. | Health Insurance Policy | For |
| 1 | Aditya Birla Activ Health Platinum Enhanced Plan | Individual |
| 2 | Star Family Health Optima | Self & Family |
| 3 | Care Senior Citizen Insurance | Senior Citizens |
| 4 | HDFC Ergo My: Women Suraksha | Women |
| 5 | Care Youth Health Insurance | Youth |
| 6 | Bajaj Allianz Criti care policy | Critical Illness |
| 7 | IFFCO Tokio Personal Accident Insurance | Personal Accident |
| 8 | NivaBupa Health Recharge | Top-Up |
Conclusion:
It is advisable to consult your insurance needs with a certified and licensed Insurance planner to get the best advice on the selection of the best health insurance policy in India. An Insurance Advisor can help you not only in choosing the right insurance policy but also make sure that you have sufficient insurance coverage at an affordable price.
