Combine a robust base health plan with a super top-up, critical illness cover and a dedicated medical corpus to protect household finances from soaring treatment costs.
Marriage, childbirth, dependent parents and ageing increase the cover a person needs.
With medical inflation hovering at around 13-14 per cent annually, policyholders must reassess their sum insured once every two years.
Tier-II, Tier-III, and rural regions accounted for 62 per cent of all new health insurance policies sold by insurers so far in 2025-26 (FY26), according to a Policybazaar report. These regions are also witnessing a rise in the sum assured opted by customers.
'Pick a sum insured that realistically covers major hospitalisation costs in your city.'
'Buy early and review the sum insured regularly.'
'Combining individual or family policies with corporate cover, along with top-ups and wellness programmes, can help maintain strong health protection throughout life.'
'As we get older, our health risks increase, and this makes health insurance significantly more expensive for seniors.'
'Opt for a minimum cover of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, especially in urban and metro areas.'
Purchase health insurance early while you are disease-free. 'It might become very difficult to get a comprehensive health cover for someone who has already had cancer.'
'Go for a base cover of Rs 10 lakh and then buy a super top-up of Rs 90 lakh.'
Ensure the sum insured for the super topup is enough to cover even worst-case scenarios.
Health insurance premium growth has slowed after touching record highs during the Covid-19 pandemic due to tapering demand from retail consumers amid affordability issues. According to General Insurance Council data, health insurance premiums grew by 10.44 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in the Apr-Jan period of FY25 in comparison with 20.79 per cent in the year-ago period. It was around 23.57 per cent in FY23, and 25.89 per cent in FY22.
A rider is a supplementary cover which can be purchased with the base policy by paying an additional premium.
Cardiac care plans are ideal for individuals with pre-existing heart conditions or a family history of heart issues. Those who can't get coverage under a comprehensive plan should opt for these plans.
It is similar to top-up health insurance plan, but provides for one or more claims cumulatively crossing the threshold limit.
A crucial point anyone purchasing health insurance must heed is the need to declare PEDs.
Health insurance coverage should be hiked periodically to keep pace with medical inflation, or increase in healthcare costs.
If the cashless request is denied, the entire cost may need to be paid for planned treatments.
The average ticket size of retail health insurance in India has increased by nearly 48 per cent over 6 years due to elevated medical inflation and increased demand for higher coverage policies among policyholders. According to data by online insurance broker PolicyBazaar, the average ticket size of retail health insurance in India has increased to Rs 26,533 so far in FY24, up 48.22 per cent from Rs 17,900 in FY19.
Purchase health insurance at an early age, before you incur a disease, as this makes access to health insurance difficult and raises the premium significantly.
Cardiac patients whose proposals for a regular health insurance plan get turned down should apply for a cardiac-specific plan.
General insurance companies are likely to see a surge in demand for health insurance in the coming months due to falling air quality in the country. The health insurance segment has registered a strong growth after the pandemic due to higher awareness. In the first half of financial year 2023-24, the segment grew by 24.4 per cent to Rs 54,713.52 crore from Rs 43,981.54 crore in H1FY23, driving growth of the non-life insurance industry.
'Try to buy a policy with a lower sum assured or one with a deductible.' 'Those whose spouses work for companies must get themselves enrolled into the employer's group health cover.' 'Some public sector banks also offer group health covers to those who open a savings account with them.'
A person who has cancer and doesn't have any health insurance will find it difficult to buy a regular hospitalisation cover. An indemnity-based cancer plan may cover them.
'While many policies say that they will cover mental illnesses, the wordings of a few still have mental illness as a permanent exclusion.' 'After the new IRDAI circular, such exclusions should go away.'
Omkeshwar Singh, head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
Mumbai received 231.4 mm rain in the last 24 hours, while Thane received 229.81 mm.
Reports suggest state-owned banks have lapped up Rs 40,000 crore, so far, using both bonds and equity instruments. The question, though, is whether there will be a perceptional change for PSB stocks.
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