*All savings are provided by the insurer as per the IRDAI approved insurance plan. Standard T&C Apply
A Health Insurance policy is a contract that is being crafted between an insurance company and an individual where the company vows to provide financial support to the insured person with the incurred amount that has been saved up throughout the waiting period of the plan. In this current situation of the havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic, many people wish to invest in a Coronavirus Health Insurance Policy. Many also have this query whether their existing standard Health Policy would provide coverage in this pandemic or not.
Insurance policies play a huge role in securing the future when it comes to health. Through this plan, an individual can use the wealth that has been accumulated over a certain period, also known as the waiting period, in undertaking pre and post-hospitalization expenses.
Health Insurance Policies include various benefits such as cashless hospitalization, day-care facilities, and reimbursement of incurred expenses, etc. Apart from former benefits, it also offers deductions from taxes under Section 80D of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961. An individual is therefore highly encouraged to purchase a Health Insurance, or if he or she wishes, to buy COVID-19 specific Health Insurance to avail full coverage that may be incurred by the insured person.
As per the circular published by IRDAI on March 4th, 2020, every health insurer has been summoned to approve of expenses related to COVID-19 within their standard health insurance policies. Thus, the policies that an individual had purchased before the onset of this viral ailment will be eligible to claim the insurance, if diagnosed.
Many Insurance Companies provide quite impressive insurance coverage. Given below is a list of well-known and established Health Insurance plans that have been hand-picked by Insurance experts for the reader's convenience.
Disclaimer: *PaisaWiki does not endorse, rate or recommend any particular insurer or insurance product offered by an insurer.
Let’s consider some of the Coronavirus health insurance plans in India in detail!
An insurance plan is considered to be the best if it holds instant claim approvals, has transparent dealings, large floater size (support for family members in one plan), a huge number of hospital networks, is affordable, with an impressive Claim Ratio, and so on. Given below is a list of health insurance plans that offer coverage for Covid-19. Moreover, all these standard health plans would also work in the role of Coronavirus Health Insurance. However, the list is not the exclusive one, which includes some of them only.
Name of Plan |
Details |
Bajaj Alliance General Insurance |
● Customizable insurance plans ● Provides four kinds of Health Insurances such as Individual, Family, Senior Citizen, and Women-specific health insurance plans ● Financial support for pre as well as post-hospitalization expenses ● 5000+ network of hospitals for cashless treatments |
HDFC Ergo Health Insurance |
● A wide array of Insurance products ● Approval of cashless coverage within hours ● Custom made service ● Over 80% renewal rate ● Settles 95% of claims within a fortnight |
ManipalCigna Health Insurance |
● Wide range of Insurance services ● 4000+ network hospitals ● Availability of life long renewal options ● Offers financial coverage for Pre-hospitalisation (60 days) and post-hospitalization (90 days) |
Max Bupa Health Insurance |
● No sub-limits on Room Rent Coverage ● Lifelong Renewal granted ● An array of Insurance products for all age groups ● Extensive sum insured option to opt from |
National Health Insurance |
● Provides financial support for pre-hospitalization (30 days) and post-hospitalization (60 days) to the insured individual ● Provides free health check-up benefits (up to 1% of the insured sum after 4 continuous claim-less years ● Parivar Mediclaim Policy provides coverage for up to 6 family members ● Cashless treatments in 6000+ hospital networks |
New India Assurance Insurance |
● 1200+ hospital Networks ● Life-long policy renewal options ● Offers free medical check-ups |
Oriental Insurance |
● Maximum member- 7 (4 adults and 3 children) ● Lifelong renewal options ● Offers 10% discount when family members are included ● Cashless treatments in 4300+ hospital networks ● |
Care Health Insurance (formerly known as Religare Health Insurance) |
● 4100+ network hospitals for cashless treatments ● Direct claim settlements ● Cover Covid-19 hospitalisation expenses |
Star Health Insurance |
● 7000+ network hospitals all across India ● In-house claim settlement team ● Over 90% of cashless Insurance claims ● Affordable ● Customer-centric interface ● Awarded Company of the Year (2015) |
Disclaimer: *PaisaWiki does not endorse, rate or recommend any particular insurer or insurance product offered by an insurer.
There are four ways through which one can apply for a health insurance policy or also for a disease-specific policy such as Coronavirus Health Insurance Policy. It must be noted that almost all existing insurance companies are providing insurance for COVID-19, and thus choosing a Coronavirus Health Insurance is not mandatory. It is dependent on the choice of the individual. The ways through which can apply for the purchasing of a plan are:
The following points must be noted for applying for Health Insurance:
The benefits of buying a standard policy are:
A benefit that is specific to a Coronavirus Health Insurance is that it does not include any waiting period. The insurance coverage is set into motion immediately after the diagnosis of a patient.
The following factors must be considered while buying any Standard Health policy or a Coronavirus Health Insurance:
A1. Buying a health insurance policy would help one in getting relief from financial burdens during medical emergencies. It will help one in availing cashless treatments and coverage for adjacent medical expenses. Moreover, it can be used in claiming tax deductions too.
A2. Yes, as per the circular given out by IRDAI, all insurance companies will provide COVID-19 coverage to an insured person.
A3. No, as Coronavirus is not categorized under any pre-existing medical conditions, the waiting period for this particular emergency is not applied.
A4. Yes, under Section 80D of Income Tax Act, 1961, an insured person can claim tax deductions for premiums paid for health insurance. However, the tax benefit is subject to changes as per prevailing tax laws.
A5. Just like any standard health policy, insurance for COVID-19 will also include pre and post-hospitalization expenses.