Health Insurance: How to choose

Follow these steps to choose a health insurance with confidence.

1. Decide the right sum insured. Medical inflation runs ahead of general inflation. Use our health cover calculator as a starting point and consider a base plan plus a super top-up.
2. Check the hospital network. Look at whether hospitals near your home, office and parents’ town are in the cashless network.
3. Read room-rent limits. A cap on room rent can proportionately cut every other charge. Prefer plans without room-rent capping or with generous limits.
4. Look at waiting periods. Compare the initial, pre-existing disease, specific-illness and maternity waiting periods across plans.
5. Understand co-pay and sub-limits. Co-pay means you share each claim. Sub-limits cap specific treatments such as cataract or joint replacement.
6. Compare renewal and portability terms. Check lifelong renewability and bonus on porting. You can port to another insurer at renewal to keep accrued waiting-period credits.

Questions to ask before you buy

• What is excluded or limited, and for how long?
• What exactly is guaranteed and what is not?
• How are claims made, and how long do they usually take?
• What happens if I miss a payment?
• Can I cancel in the free-look period, and what is refunded?
• How will this plan change as my life changes?

Use our tools

Health Cover Calculator Tax-Saving Estimator Inflation Impact Calculator Policy comparison scorecard