Health Insurance Companies

In 2021, health insurance is an important investment, as it pays for the health care expenses of the individual when hospitalised. To get peace of mind during treatment or recovery, you need to partner with a suitable health insurance provider.

Today, the market is bombarded with 29 health insurance companies, each having a wide range of plans and benefits. Now, the question arises- which insurance company should you trust? For your convenience, we at PolicyX.com, have provided a list of all the health insurance companies in India along with the factors which will help you in selecting a suitable insurance company for yourself and your family. Read along and then make a choice accordingly.

Top 10 Health Insurance Companies

Given below is a graph which highlights the top 10 health insurance companies in India. Companies in this graph are ranked on the basis of their market share, cashless network and claim settled within 3 months. These factors are taken into consideration because as we've already discussed, market share, claim support and cashless facility play a crucial role in determining the trustworthiness and quality of customer support service provided by a company. Following is the methodology in detail:

• The companies were sorted on the basis of their market share of 2019-2020 (Companies having higher market share are ranked higher
• Companies having less than 90% for the parameter of claim settled within 3 months were removed from the top and ranked lower
• Also, the companies having less than 3000 network hospitals were ranked lower due to the fact that cashless treatment is the number one priority for any customer.

Top 10 Health Insurance Companies on the basis of their Market Share (2019-20)

Health Insurance Providers In India

In the table given below, we've enlisted all 29 health insurance companies in India. You can refer to this table while selecting an insurance provider for yourself.

The companies in the table are ranked on the basis of 3 factors- market share (annual premium), cashless facility and claim support ratio.

Annual Premium data & claim data sourced from IRDA Annual report 2019-2020

Network hospital data is sourced from respective companies website

1. Star Health and Allied Insurance Company

   Star Health and Allied Insurance Company of India was established in the year 2006. It offers a wide range of health insurance and speciality products to cater to the needs of every individual. The company operates a pan India network with more than 640 branch offices. Star Health has maintained a good reputation in the market due to its hassle-free claim settlement process. Recently, the company was awarded Dun & Bradstreet BFSI Summit & Awards in the year of 2019 for being 'India's Leading Insurance Company of the Year.'

   Know More About - Star Health Insurance

2. HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company

   HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company is a joint venture between HDFC Limited & ERGO International AG. It offers a wide range of health insurance products, which can easily match the requirements of most of the people. The company has a network of more than 200 branches spread across 170+ Indian cities and caters to the needs and requirements of its policyholders through 24*7 customer support services.

   Know More About - HDFC ERGO Health Insurance

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3. ICICI Lombard Company

   ICICI GIC Ltd. is a leading private sector general insurance company in India. The company adopts a customer centric approach and has a strong network of around 4 crore customers. It offers a variety of health products and has a network of more than 6500 cashless hospitals across India. ICICI Lombard also won the 'Gold Shield' award for excellence in the financial reporting category for its Annual Report for FY2019, presented by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

   Know More About - ICICI Lombard Health Insurance

4. Care Health Insurance Company (formerly known as Religare Insurance Company Limited)

   Care Health Insurance Company Limited is a specialized health insurer that is engaged in providing different insurance products for individuals, the corporate sector and financial inclusion. The company has maintained a position for being one of the trusted insurance providers in the market and was recently awarded as the 'Best Health Insurance Company' at the ABP News-BFSI Awards & 'Best Claims Service Leader of the Year- Insurance India Summit & Awards.

   Know More About - Care Health Insurance

5. Bajaj Allianz Health Insurance Company

   Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited was founded in the year 2001. It is a joint venture between Bajaj Finserv Limited (held by the Bajaj Group) and Allianz SE in Germany. The company caters to individuals across the country with offices in over 1100 towns and cities and offers a wide range of insurance products (including health) and services. Bajaj Allianz was recently honoured with the award of 'Best Insurer in India 2020' by IDC Financial Insights Innovation Awards.

   Know More About - Bajaj Allianz Health Insurance

6. Reliance Health Insurance Company

   Reliance General Insurance Company Limited was founded in 2000 and is one of the leading general insurance companies (private sector) in India. The company has 139 offices and more than 28,900+ intermediaries across the country. It offers a variety of customized products and plans related to motor, health, travel, and commercial to meet every customer's needs.

   Know More About - Reliance Health Insurance

7. Max Bupa Health Insurance Company

   Max Bupa Health Insurance Company is one of the most trusted health insurance companies in India. It is a joint venture between Max India Limited and UK-based Bupa Finance PLC. The perfect mixture of global expertise and local knowledge in healthcare & insurance makes Max Bupa the best option when it comes to protecting your family's health. The company delivers a wide range of mediclaim policies, such as individual health insurance, family floater insurance policy and top-up insurance cover to cater to the different needs of the society.

   Know More About - Max Bupa Health Insurance

8. Tata AIG Health Insurance Company

   TATA AIG was founded in 2001 & is a renowned name in the general insurance industry of India. It is a joint venture between the Tata Group and the renowned American International Group (AIG). The company has a large network of 200 offices spread across India, and a robust multi-channel distribution network of 40,000+ licensed agents and 437+ licensed brokers. At present, Tata AIG General Insurance Company is offering a superb range of general insurance products that include health, motor, travel, etc.

   Know More About - Tata Aig Health Insurance

9. Aditya Birla Health Insurance

   Aditya Birla Health Insurance Company is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and MMI Holding Limited. The company has a nationwide tie-up with more than 7000 hospitals situated in 2100+ cities across India. Aditya Birla Capital carries a list of products, which help fulfil the needs of different individuals.

   Know More About - Aditya Birla Health Insurance

10. SBI Health Insurance Company

    SBI General Insurance Company is a joint venture between the Insurance Australia Group (IAG) & State Bank of India. The company operates via a large network of more than 22000 branches located across India. At present, SBI General Insurance provides coverage against travel, health, motor, personal accident, and home insurance for individuals and group personal accidents, group health, marine package, construction & engineering for businesses.

    Know More About - SBI Health Insurance

11. ManipalCigna Health Insurance Company

    ManipalCigna Health Insurance Company was incorporated in the year 2014 and was formerly known as Cigna TTK Health Insurance Company. The company is a joint venture between Cigna, the global business group for insurance, and TTK Group (an Indian giant). It offers a wide array of comprehensive healthcare plans to cater to the healthcare needs of individuals and families. ManipalCigna is considered as a trusted insurance company and wellness partner in the industry and works intending to secure the financial and medical future of its customers.

    Know More About - ManipalCigna Health Insurance

12. Royal Sundaram Health Insurance Company

    Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Limited is the first Indian private sector general insurance company to be licensed in October 2000 by the IRDAI. It is a joint venture between Sundaram Finance (the most respected non-banking financial institutions of India) and RSA (the second-largest general insurer in the UK). The company has 156 branches across India and works with a team of more than 2000 employees. It offers a variety of general insurance solutions (including health insurance) to individuals, families and businesses directly as well as through its intermediaries and distribution partners.

    Know More About - Royal Sundaram Health Insurance

13. Future Generali Health Insurance Company

    Future Generali India Insurance Company was established in 2007 as a joint venture between Future Group, a leading retailer of India and the Generali Group, a renowned global insurance group. The company offers a wide range of health insurance plans at affordable prices that are designed to cater the different needs of customers. It has a wide network of operations with around 125 branches spread across India.

    Know More About- Future Generali Health Insurance

14. Cholamandalam MS Health Insurance Company

    Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Ltd. is a private insurance company and was founded in 2001. It is a collaboration between Murugappa Group and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Limited, Japan. The company operates a PAN India network through 140 branches located across the country. Cholamandalam MS offers a wide range of insurance products that include accident, health, marine, property, travel, and rural insurance, for both individuals and corporate.

    Know More About - Cholamandalam Health Insurance

15. Bharti AXA Health Insurance Company

    Bharti AXA General Insurance Company was incorporated in 2008. The company is a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises of India, a pivotal Indian business group, and the AXA group of Europe, a world leader in financial protection. It has a PAN India presence through 135 branches and offers a variety of insurance solutions, including motor and two-wheeler, health and critical illness, property and student, individual and family travel and crop insurance. Bharti AXA is the first general insurance company that carries dual certifications of ISO 27001:2005 & ISO 9001:2008 within the first year of its operations.

    Know More About - Bharti Axa Health Insurance

16. Liberty Health Insurance

    Liberty Videocon General Insurance was established in the year 2013 and is a joint venture between Videocon Group and the US-based Liberty Mutual Insurance Group. The company has a wide network of 110 offices located in 95 cities across 29 states in India. The company primarily deals in health insurance, two-wheeler and private car insurance.

    Know More About - Liberty Health Insurance

17. Kotak Mahindra Health Insurance

    Kotak Mahindra General Insurance Company is a 100% subsidiary of the Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., India's fastest growing bank. This insurance company offers a comprehensive range of healthcare products that allows the customers to choose the best one as per their needs. It has several branches across the country and has employed an army of agents to serve its customers.

    Know More About - Kotak Mahindra Health Insurance

18. Magma Health Insurance Company

    Magma HDI General Insurance Co Ltd. is a well-known general insurance company, which is a joint venture between Magma Fincorp Ltd, Kolkata, and HDI Global SE Germany. It offers a wide range of effective healthcare plans and several other products like fire insurance, motor insurance, marine insurance, engineering insurance, and others. This insurance company has a huge base of customers along with a network of 135+ offices located across the country.

    Know More About - Magma Health Insurance

19. Edelweiss Health Insurance

    Edelweiss General Insurance is one of the popular health insurance providers in the market. As a part of the Edelweiss Group, it has a huge responsibility to deliver the best to its customers and it does so with ease. This insurance company offers a wide range of insurance plans such as motor insurance, two-wheeler insurance, health insurance, home insurance, fire insurance and marine insurance.

    Know More About - Edelweiss Health Insurance

20. Navi Health Insurance

    Formed in 2016, Navi General Insurance was formerly known as DHFL General Insurance Limited. The company adopts a paperless insurance purchase process by allowing the customers to purchase insurance plans from the Navi mobile application. There are a variety of health insurance plans offered by this company.

    Know More About - Navi Health Insurance

21. Acko Health Insurance

    Acko General Insurance company started its operations in 2016 as India's first digital insurer. Within just a few years of incorporation, this company has become one of the fastest growing insurance companies in the country and has served around 50 million unique customers till now.

    Know More About - Acko Health Insurance

22. Digit Health Insurance

    Headed by Mr Kamesh Goyal, Digit General Insurance has bagged the Top Indian Startup Award in 2019. It has a network of more than 5900 cashless hospitals located across India. In 2019, Digit General Insurance sold more than 10 lakhs policies and became one of the solid insurance providers in the market. The company was recently awarded Asia's General Insurance Company of the Year 2019, 2020.

    Know More About - Digit Health Insurance

23. IFFCO Tokio Health Insurance Company

    IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company was founded in the year 2000. It is an effective health insurance company and a joint venture between Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative (IFFCO) and Tokio Marine Group, one of the largest insurance groups in Japan. The company sells a wide range of general insurance products and corporate policies, such as car insurance, two-wheeler insurance, health insurance, travel insurance, home insurance, property insurance and liability insurance.

    Know More About - Iffco Tokio Health Insurance

24. Raheja QBE MS Health Insurance Company

    Raheja QBE General Insurance Company Limited was founded in 1938 and is a joint venture between Rajan Raheja Group and QBE Insurance. It offers a variety of effective and customised healthcare products that are designed to go well with the different needs of consumers. The company provides a wide network of cashless services in more than 5000 hospitals.

    Know More About - Raheja QBE Health Insurance

25. Universal Sompo Health Insurance Company

    Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Limited was established in 2007. It is a joint venture between Allahabad Bank, Karnataka Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Dabur Investment Corporation, and Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance Inc. The company offers an extensive range of healthcare products & also deals in motor and commercial insurance.

    Know More About - Universal Sompo Health Insurance

26. New India Health Insurance

    The New India Assurance Company Limited is one of the oldest insurance companies in India, that was established in 1919. The company has its headquarters in Mumbai and operates through a vast network of 2395 offices located across different cities in India. It also conducts multinational operations in around 28 countries. The company offers close to 250 products (including health insurance) at affordable prices.

    Know More About - New India Health Insurance

27. United India Health Insurance

    United India Insurance Company Limited was established in 1938 and got nationalized in 1972. At present, the company has over 14000 workforce spread across 2281 offices and provides insurance cover to around 1.74 crore policyholders in India. It offers a wide range of health insurance products that are suitable enough to meet everybody's needs.

    Know More About - United India Health Insurance

28. National Health Insurance Company

    National Insurance Company Limited was established in 1906 and is the oldest General Insurance Company of India. The company was nationalized in 1972 and has become one of the leading insurance providers in India. It consists of several policies (including health) for all sectors of society to fulfil their requirements. The company, at present, operates with a large network of 1730 offices all over India and a foreign office in Nepal and has more than 13000 skilled employees and over 50000 agents spread all over the nation.

    Know More About - National Health Insurance

29. Oriental Health Insurance Company

    The Oriental Insurance company was founded in 1947 and since then, it is offering multiple health insurance products and laying down a smooth system for the better convenience of customers. The company has its head office located at New Delhi along with 29 regional offices and nearly 1800+ operating offices in various cities across the country. It also conducts overseas operations in Nepal, Kuwait and Dubai. Oriental offers different types of insurance covers to cater to the needs of both the urban and rural population of India.

    Know More About - Oriental Health Insurance .

Which Factors Will Help You In Selecting A Suitable Health Insurance Provider?

With so many providers in the market, you may run into turmoil while deciding the best amongst them. Although there is no standard formula to decide which ones are the top ones, our research team has shortlisted a few parameters based on which you can shortlist the top providers. These parameters are decided keeping in mind the importance of factors from a health insurance buyer point of view. Once the companies are shortlisted, you can select the plans that fit your requirements and offers a competitive pricing.

Cashless Facility

In a cashless claim facility, the medical expenses incurred by the policyholder during his/her hospitalisation are directly settled by the insurance company. To provide this facility, the insurance company collaborates with a number of hospitals which are called 'network hospitals'. This means that if the insured person gets his treatment done in any of the network hospitals then the insurance company will pay for all the treatment expenses, releasing the financial burden off from the shoulders of the insured. So, while selecting a company make sure that it offers the facility of cashless treatment.

Network Hospitals

Customers can avail cashless claim facility only in the hospitals that come in the network of the insurance company. Therefore, it is important to check the company's list of network hospitals before taking a health insurance plan. People generally prefer selecting a company that has their preferred hospital in its list of network hospitals . Ideally, it is better to opt for a company that has a long list of network hospitals as it will allow you to stay medically protected even while you are travelling or if you want to get a specific treatment done from other hospitals.

Claim Support

The main idea behind buying a health insurance plan is to make sure that the insurance provider will be available to support you financially at times when we need it the most. Therefore, you must select an insurance company that has a record of delivering good customer service. Claim support works as a great parameter in determining how good the customer service of a company is. Higher the claim support, better is the customer service.

However, there is no easy way to quantify claim support so we have taken the time required for an insurance company to settle the claim as a proxy. The IRDA annual report provdes the data for the percentage of claims settled by the company within 3 months. Needless to say, a company having a very high percentage of this number is more preferable than a company which has low percentage of claim settled within 3 months. In the table below, we have listed the percentage of claims settled by the company within 3 months. You can refer to this data for determining the quality of customer and claim support service that the company provides.

Market Share

Business volume refers to the total number of policies that are sold by an insurance company and the premiums collected. An insurance company with a higher business volume is the one who is trusted by more individuals and has a larger market share. This can also be a parameter for judging health insurance companies.

Solvency Ratio

A higher solvency ratio means that the insurers have a higher proportion of capital related to the risk it has undertaken. It will be good news for customers as in the case of bulk claims, the company will have enough resources to pay off the claims to the customers. So higher the solvency ratio, better it is for the customers from a financial stability standpoint. It also indicates how prudent the company has been in undertaking risks.

Variety of Plans

Some companies offer a gamut of plans for varying customer requirements. These plans cater to specific segments like senior citizens, people with heart diseases, young population, etc. That's why it is important to explore all options before zeroing in on the plan. Naturally, companies offering variety of plans are preferred as you have more options to choose from.

Reviews

It is important to ensure that the insurance company you select holds a good reputation in the market. And the best way to determine the trustworthiness of any insurance company is to study the customer reviews and ratings of that company. It is a fact that the insurance company, which has a wider customer base and collection of good reviews is more trustworthy and likely to have a sufficient amount of resources required to pay for claims.

How Can PolicyX.com Help You Choose Your Health Insurance Provider?

We, at PolicyX.com, believe in transparency. Our insurance experts are directed to share complete data with an individual. When you decide to select a health insurance provider, our experts walk side by side with you and give all the information you need to make the correct decision. Call 1800-4200-269 to get the desired assistance.