Types of Health Insurance plans include:

• Individual health insurance plan: Individual health insurance or medical insurance policy is meant for individuals only and you get individual sum insured or cover amount for medical claims.
• Family floater health insurance plan: A floater health policy allow you to cover your complete family – including you, your spouse and children if any under a single plan. The sum insured or cover amount is available on a collective basis and can be used equally among the members.
• Group Health cover: Employers cover their employees for medical emergencies and financial aid for healthcare to ensure employee well-being and retention. However, such group policies generally come with limited benefits and does not offer a comprehensive coverage.
• Senior Citizen health insurance:
• Critical illness health plan: These plans are especially designed for coverage against the risk of specific critical illnesses like cancer, heart attack, etc. It pays a lump sum amount equal to the cover amount merely on the diagnosis of the disease thus providing monetary aid to pay for treatments.
• Super Top-Up plans: Super top-up plans provide a way higher coverage typically ₹10-50 lakhs at a very affordable premium. If you already have an existing health insurance policy then you may opt for super top-up plans to enhance your coverage at low cost.

Health insurance premium paid offers tax deduction benefits under Section 80D of the income tax act, up to ₹25,000 each for family and parents and up to ₹50,000 for senior citizen parents. These 80D tax benefits are in addition to Section 80C tax deductions of ₹1.5 lakhs.

The premium payment receipt and policy copy which shows the name of the insured members, their relation and age is required to claim the deduction

ICICI Lombard’s iHealth Complete Health Insurance plan is one of the best health insurance plans in India that provides protection against any major medical expenses that may create a financial burden. It is a comprehensive plan that is available for individuals as well as for families.

Also, apart from offering all the facilities offered by any other insurance company, ICICI Lombard health insurance plans have some unique features at competitive prices making them standalone.

However, features and premiums vary from plan to plan based on Sum Insured chosen and the age of the person buying the policy. Thus, it is best to compare various available plans and choose the one that best suits your needs and profile.

Cashless mediclaim is one of the advantages offered by most of the health insurance or medical insurance companies. Under a cashless Mediclaim, medical bills are directly settled by the insurance company, provided the total bill amount falls within the coverage limit and the hospital is a network hospital. Cashless hospitalization is extremely helpful in cases of emergency when you or your family may not be able to make last moment monetary arrangements for the treatment.

Most of the health insurance companies in India do not cover individuals above 65 years of age. However, few health insurers like Religare and HDFC Ergo have no limit on the policy buying age when you buy for yourself or senior citizen parents.

Health insurance coverage should ideally depend on one’s residential city, history of family illnesses and individual lifestyle. For people living in metro cities, the cover amount should at least be ₹5 lakhs given the high cost of healthcare and medical treatments in metro cities.

A 2-3 day hospitalization bill usually costs up to ₹85,000 for common diseases like dengue and ₹2 to ₹3.5 lakhs for a major surgery.

With healthcare costs rising @6.5% every year, experts suggest to take a cover of at least ₹5-10 lakhs to be on the safe side.

Medical and Health Insurance are the same and the terms are used interchangeably. Health or Medical insurance cover the medical expenses in case one gets ill and needs a major surgery/treatment/hospitalization. Insurance companies use terms such as health, medical, mediclaim etc for the same category of products that cover the expenses in case of any medical emergency or diagnosis of an illness. These products may also include standalone policies like critical illness, daily cash, cancer and other such products.

Health insurance coverage should ideally depend on one’s residential city, history of family illnesses and individual lifestyle. For people living in metro cities, the cover amount should at least be ₹5 lakhs given the high cost of healthcare and medical treatments in metro cities.

A 2-3 day hospitalization bill usually costs up to ₹85,000 for common diseases like dengue and ₹2 to ₹3.5 lakhs for a major surgery.

With healthcare costs rising @6.5% every year, experts suggest to take a cover of at least ₹5-10 lakhs to be on the safe side.

Medical and Health Insurance are the same and the terms are used interchangeably. Health or Medical insurance cover the medical expenses in case one gets ill and needs a major surgery/treatment/hospitalization. Insurance companies use terms such as health, medical, mediclaim etc for the same category of products that cover the expenses in case of any medical emergency or diagnosis of an illness. These products may also include standalone policies like critical illness, daily cash, cancer and other such products.