6 Best Critical Illness Insurance Companies in India 2023
Critical illness insurance is a type of health insurance policy that protects against fatal illnesses such as cancer, disability, or amputation. It pays a lump sum to the insured person to cover various medical expenses related to fighting a life-threatening disease. This type of insurance covers only one fatal illness and is thus distinct from other health insurance policies.
This blog lists the best critical illness insurance plans in India to help you find a suitable plan as per your needs. Read on!
List of 6 Best Critical Illness Insurance Companies and Policy in India
Considering the features mentioned above, these are the insurance plans providing the best critical illness cover 2023:
| Policy Name | Features |
| Navi Health Insurance | Coverage: ₹2 lakh to ₹1 crore Claim Settlement Ratio: 97% Minimum Premium Amount: ₹235/ month |
| Care Health Insurance Critical Illness Insurance | Coverage: Up to ₹6 crore Claim Settlement Ratio: 95.2% Minimum Premium Amount: ₹10,000 – ₹15,000/ year approximately |
| Niva Bupa’s CritiCare Insurance Plan | Coverage: ₹3 lakh to ₹2 crore Claim Settlement Ratio: 91.6% Minimum Premium Amount: ₹12,521/ year |
| Bajaj Allianz Criti Care Policy | Coverage: Up to ₹2 crore Claim Settlement Ratio: 92.24% Minimum Premium Amount: ₹257/month |
| SBI General Insurance- Critical Illness Health Insurance | Coverage: ₹3 lakh to ₹10 lakh Claim Settlement Ratio: 99.75% Minimum Premium Amount: ₹588/month |
| Bharti AXA Life Critical Illness Cover | Coverage: Up to ₹2 crore Claim Settlement Ratio: 98.27% Minimum Premium Amount: ₹428/ month |
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Highlights of Best Critical Illness Insurance 2023
The following are the details of the best critical illness policies:
It is one of the top critical illness insurance policies in the Indian market. They offer several types of benefits and services to their clients which makes them stand out from the competition. This includes a cashless claim facility, where you can get approval within 20 minutes. Moreover, you can easily locate a nearby network hospital using its app.
Features and services are mentioned below:
- Compensation for loss of income of an insured individual**
- Child tuition benefits in case of death due to critical disease
- Coverage for second medical opinion for critical diseases
- Compensation for two critical illnesses even if the sum assured is exhausted for the first one.
- High additional coverage for early-stage cancer
- Coverage: ₹2 lakh to ₹1 crore
- Claim settlement ratio: 97%
- Minimum Premium Amount: ₹235/ month
2. Care Health Insurance- Critical Illness Insurance
Care Health Insurance’s policy provides cashless treatment and covers many fatal illnesses under its insurance plan. The policy covers everything from radiotherapy and chemotherapy to OPD expenses and AYUSH treatments. Hence, it is among the best critical illness plans available in India.
Features and services are mentioned below.
- Covers: 32 illnesses
- Claim settlement ratio: 95.2%
- Cashless claim facility at 16,500+ healthcare providers
- Cover pre and post hospitalisation, psychiatric counseling, organ donation, and dialysis
- Coverage: Up to ₹6 crore
- Claim settlement ratio: 95.2%
- Minimum Premium Amount: ₹10,000 – ₹15,000/ year approximately
3. Niva Bupa Health Insurance- Criticare
This is a very successful brand for health insurance and is preferred by people for its vast network of partner hospitals across India. There are no third parties involved in settling claims with Navi Bupa, and the insurer promises to settle claims within just 30 minutes.
Features and services are mentioned below:
- Covers 20 illnesses
- Premium amount: Rs. 12,521 per year
- Coverage amount: Rs. 3 lakh to Rs. 2 crore
- 30-minute cashless claim process
- Age: 18 to 65 years
- Coverage: ₹3 lakh to ₹2 crore
- Claim settlement ratio: 91.6%
- Minimum Premium Amount: ₹12,521/ year
4. Bajaj Allianz – Criti Care Policy
This insurance company is a joint venture between Bajaj and Allianz company and its objective is to provide affordable insurance policies to the average population. Policyholders can use its lifetime renewability feature and get cashless treatment at one of the insurer’s 4,300+ network hospitals.
Features and services are stated below:
- Covers 43 illnesses
- Multi-year policy: For 1,2,3 years
- Entry age: 18 to 65 years
- Sum covered: Up to Rs. 2 crore
- Premium amount is payment in installment
- Coverage: Up to ₹2 crore
- Claim settlement ratio: 92.24%
- Minimum Premium Amount: ₹257/month
5. SBI General Insurance – Critical Illness Health Insurance
This is one of the best critical illness insurance plans in India offered with several benefits like maximum age coverage, free-look period, etc. SBI General Insurance has handled over 10.68 crore customers and settled claims worth ₹22,000 crore.
Features and services are listed below.
- Covers 13 illnesses
- Entry age: 18 to 65 years
- Sum insured: Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 50 lakh
- Two plans: 1 year and 3 year
- Waiting period: 15 days
- Coverage: ₹3 lakh to ₹10 lakh
- Claim settlement ratio: 99.75%
- Minimum Premium Amount: ₹588/month
6. Bharti AXA- Bharti AXA Life Critical Illness Cover
One of the unique features of this policy is you can file claims for pre-existing critical illnesses after 4 years of paying premiums. They have over 4,300 partner hospitals around the country and offer 24×7 assistance for insurance claims and queries.
Features and services are listed below:
- Covers 20+ illnesses
- Cashless claims in 4300+ hospitals
- Covers pre and post-hospitalisation charges, daycare procedures
- 24×7 customer support
- Coverage: Up to ₹2 crore
- Claim settlement ratio: 98.27%
- Minimum Premium Amount: ₹428/ month
Features of Critical Illness Insurance Policies
While opting for a critical illness insurance plan, you should look out for the following features:
1. Coverage
Most critical illness insurance providers offer coverage for up to 36 or more critical diseases. The list includes heart attack, kidney diseases, cancer, tumor, stroke, paralysis, bypass surgery, etc. It is crucial that you review the list of illnesses covered by various insurers and opt for the one that suits your health requirements.
2. Waiting Period
Generally, insurance providers offer the coverage amount after the end of a predetermined waiting period. Many policyholders tend to make a claim and drop the policy later. However, a waiting period reduces the risk from the insurer’s side. Usually, this period is from 48 to 90 days, but it will vary from insurer to insurer.
3. Lump Sum Payment
Some critical illness insurance providers allow you to get a large sum insured. Thus, in case of any life-threatening disease, you can claim a lump sum amount as a one-time payment option.
4. Premium Amount
To avail the benefits of an insurance policy, one has to pay a predetermined amount to their insurer regularly. The benefits that a policy offers should always complement the premium amount. Moreover, some insurance policies wave off premium payment upon diagnosis.
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Benefits of Buying Critical Illness Policy
1. Hassle-Free Claim Compensation
For critical illness policies, the insured individual does not need to be hospitalised. To apply for claim compensation, one has to simply furnish their diagnosis reports.
With the use of modern technology, insurance providers transfer the insured amount within a short period and with minimal documentation. They also offer online platforms with 24×7 claim support features. Furthermore, due to tie-ups with many healthcare providers, most insurers offer cashless claim settlements.
2. Income Replacement
As mentioned above, these policies are known for their lump sum payment feature. A policyholder can use a part of this one-time payment as an income replacement. Thus, with that money, you can not only cover your medical bills but also meet your household expenses in case of income loss.
3. Extensive Coverage
Insurance providers recognise that individuals have different medical and financial requirements. Thus, they offer a wide range of policy tenure, premium amount, and sum insured. On top of this, most insurers allow you to claim compensation in any part of the world. So, if you want to get treatment in a foreign country, you can opt for a plan that includes worldwide coverage.
Types of illness covered under Critical Illness Insurance
There are several types of ailments that are covered under critical illness insurance, The best critical illness policies provide coverage against most of the illnesses listed below:
- Cancer
- Heart Attack
- Stroke
- Kidney Failure
- Loss of Limbs
- Paralysis
- Organ Transplant (Major)
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Complete Blindness and Deafness
- Loss of Speech
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Major operations related to the heart (Artery abnormalities, Bypass surgery, etc)
- Brain Tumor and related fatal Brain ailments.
- AIDS
- Anaemia
- Encephalitis
- Third-degree Burns
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Chronic organ issues
- Alzheimer’s
- Motor Neuron Disease]
There may be a few other diseases covered by some insurance companies. However, the stage of the disease, how it was contracted and several other factors are taken into consideration while offering financial aid to an insured party. Hence, it is best if you carefully research all policy terms before buying the insurance.
How to choose the Best Critical Illness Insurance
You should check the following factors to ensure you get the best critical illness plan based on your needs.
- Step 1: Check the list of diseases or ailments covered under a policy. You should select a plan that has the maximum critical diseases on its coverage list.
- Step 2: Critical illness plans have a renewal limit based on age. Hence, you should check if the plan’s renewal limit is higher in comparison to other plans in the market.
- Step 3: The next important thing is to check the premium amount or percentage that you need to pay annually. The amount of premium and the benefits and features of the plan are interrelated to one another. Therefore, you should check the premium value before buying a plan.
- Step 4: You also need to check the sum insured offered by the health insurance provider. A high lump sum amount can offer you the financial backup you need in case of an emergency.
- Step 5: Age benefit is an important perk in case of a critical insurance plan. If you apply at a young age then you get better features. Thus check the minimum age benefits for a plan.
- Step 6: The ‘Waiting period’ before you can utilise the benefits of a plan is also a significant factor. You should opt for a plan with minimum waiting tenure.
- Step 7: Lastly you should also check the added benefits an insurance provider is offering to you. A good insurer will offer several additional features (riders) that can improve the coverage of a policy. Moreover, you should check the exclusions as they can affect the benefits you get in your critical situation.
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Tax Benefits Under Critical Illness Insurance Policy
Critical illness policy offers tax deductions under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Tax deduction applies to the premium paid for these policies. A policyholder can get a deduction up to Rs. 25,000. Meanwhile, senior citizens can avail deductions up to Rs. 50,000.
Final Word
Life-threatening diseases can be emotionally and financially stressful for you and your family. In critical moments, the last thing one should be worried about is medical bills piling up. Fortunately, buying the best critical illness insurance policy will allow you to concentrate solely on getting medical treatments without worrying about the costs.
FAQs
A health insurance policy provides all-around coverage for hospitalisation and associated charges related to various injuries and diseases. Meanwhile, a critical illness policy acts as an add-on benefit-based coverage for life-threatening diseases. For the latter, hospitalisation is not a necessary factor.
Sexually transmitted diseases like AIDs, Syphilis, Hepatitis B and others do fall into the severe and fatal category. Unfortunately, critical illness policies do not cover any sexually transmitted diseases.
Most insurers do allow policyholders to change the coverage amount but to an extent. To avoid any risk, the facility to reduce or increase the sum insured is generally available at the time of policy renewal.
Most critical illness plans offer individual and family coverage. Thus, depending on which policy you opt for, you can include your family members in the plan. However, only those related directly to the policyholder, like parents, children, spouses and siblings, can enjoy the coverage.
A rider is like an add-on to your regular health insurance plan. By paying an extra premium, you can make modifications to the coverage terms and add benefits. Thus, if you want your policy to cover critical illnesses, you can pay an additional premium and customise the plan.
The maximum age for most critical illness policies is 65 years. The later you buy a plan the more restrictions are applied to your policy due to the age risk factor.
No, accident coverage is usually not included in a critical illness plan. However, you can opt for an accidental cover add-on if it is provided by your insurance company. Alternatively, you can buy a separate policy dedicated to accidental coverage.
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Disclaimer: This article has been prepared on the basis of internal data, publicly available information and other sources believed to be reliable. The information contained in this article is for general purposes only and not a complete disclosure of every material fact. It should not be construed as investment advice to any party. The article does not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the information, and disclaims all liabilities, losses and damages arising out of the use of this information. Readers shall be fully liable/responsible for any decision taken on the basis of this article.
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