Best individual, family, senior citizen & critical illness health insurance plans 2025

In life nothing is as important as being healthy.  Staying away from illnesses is something unpredictable and not in your hand. However, staying covered under a comprehensive health insurance plan that takes care of all your healthcare needs is something you can ensure. A good health insurance plan secures your health and that of your dear ones. However, it is easy to get confused when searching for one such plan because of the huge competition in the market. Hence, you need to follow a complete guide on parameters to choose a health care policy offering best advantages. In this post we are discussing some of the best plans that you should consider for the new year 2023 and how to choose these plans to avail maximum benefits.

What is the best health insurance plan? 

Health insurance plans are not new to anyone. Most of us already know and understand what a health insurance plan is. However, for the novice health insurance is like a mutual agreement between an individual buying a health policy and a health insurance company. As per this agreement, policyholders or individuals who buy insurance plans pay a certain amount as premium to the insurer to avail medical coverage against diseases and injuries under the policy. Most health insurance companies have tie-ups with renowned hospitals across the country where they can receive cashless healthcare treatment as per the terms and conditions of the policy.

There is too much competition in the health insurance sector with wide-ranging companies claiming to offer the best health plans. Hence, it is critical for policy seekers to take a good look at the varied plans available and choose the one that suits them the most. However, the complexity involved in the insurance selection process makes the choice difficult.

In this post, we are trying to make things simple to help policy seekers with meticulous planning of best health insurance plans. Let’s take a look at the different categories of health insurance plans available one by one.

Health Insurance Plans for Individuals

As the name suggests, an individual health insurance plan is meant for a single person/individual. This health plan provides financial security to the insured against the expenses incurred on a range of medical and healthcare treatments including cost of hospitalization. Individual health insurance plans can be bought for individuals of all ages and categories including the head of the family, the elderly or the senior citizens, the spouse of the insured, the children etc.

Below are some best policies to consider for your individual healthcare needs.

Individual Health Insurance Policy	Health Insurer Offering the Policy	Network Hospitals	Benefits Offered
Care Plan	Care Health Insurance	16500+	Organ Donor Cover   Ambulance Cover Domiciliary Hospitalization cover
HDFC Optima Restore Plan	HDFC Ergo Health Insurance	13000+	Domiciliary Hospitalization coverage   Pre and Post Hospitalization coverage Cataract operation coverage
Niva Bupa Health Reassure	Niva Bupa Health Insurance	7600+	Emergency Ambulance services offered   Accommodation Cash Benefit offered Day Care Treatment offered
Aditya Birla Activ Health + Multiply Fit Combo	Aditya Birla Capital	6000+	Comprehensive coverage with focus on fitness, wellness provided   Allow coverage against mental illness, obesity treatment and homecare medical treatment
Bajaj Allianz Health Infinity Plan	Bajaj Allianz Health Insurance	6500+	No sub-limits allowed on sum assured   Coverage for road ambulance available In-patient hospitalization available Pre-and post-hospitalization option is there Day care procedures available, Preventive health-check-up available
Care Advantage	Care Health Insurance	16500+	Organ Donor coverage facility   Auto Recharge facility Daycare Treatment coverage facility
ManipalCigna LifeTime Health Plan	ManipalCigna Health Insurance	6500+	Automatic Restoration   Coverage outside India available Mental Care treatment available

 

Health Insurance Plans for Families

Family health insurance plans are comprehensive policies that cover an entire family under a single coverage. You can pay a single premium amount and get coverage against all the members of a family irrespective of their age. Hence, you are not required to pay separate premiums under these cost effective plans.

Below are some best policies to consider for family healthcare needs.

Family Floater Health Plans	Health Insurance Companies	Network Hospitals	Coverage Benefits
HDFC Optima Secure Plan	HDFC Ergo Health Insurance	13000+	Emergency Air Ambulance Coverage   All Daycare Treatment Coverage Organ Donor Expense Coverage
ICICI Health Shield	ICICI Lombard Health Insurance	6500+	Restoration facility   Coverage outside India available Mental Care facility
Care Advantage	Care Health Insurance	16500+	Organ Donor   Auto Recharge Daycare Treatment
Care Plan	Care Health Insurance	16500+	Organ Donor Cover   Ambulance Cover Domiciliary Hospitalization
ManipalCigna ProHealth Prime	ManipalCigna Health Insurance	6500+	Daycare Treatments   Domiciliary Treatment Road Ambulance

 

Health Insurance Plans for Senior Citizen

The elderly people have separate plans dedicated to meet their healthcare needs. These plans are called  Senior Citizens health insurance plans and they cover the medical costs of elderly who are above the age of 60 years. Most of the senior citizen health insurance plans offer coverage against critical diseases as well as pre-existing diseases.

Below are some best policies to consider for your senior citizens healthcare needs.

Senior Citizen Health Plans	Health Insurance Companies	Network Hospitals	Coverage Benefits
Care Health Senior Plan	Care Health Insurance	16500+	No pre-policy medical checkups   Ambulance expenses Domiciliary expenses
Aditya Birla Activ Care Plan	Aditya Birla Health Insurance	5700+	Daycare expenses   Ambulance expenses Health check-up
Niva Bupa Senior first Plan	Niva Bupa Health Insurance	7600+	Daycare Treatment   AYUSH Treatment Organ Donor
Star Health Senior Citizen Red Carpet	Star Health Insurance	12000+	Daily Hospital Cash   All Daycare Expenses Emergency Air Ambulance Domiciliary hospitalization
TATA AIG MediSenior	TATA AIG Health Insurance	7000+	140 Daycare Treatments   Pre and post hospitalization Organ Donor Expense

 

Health Insurance Plans for Critical Illness

With the rise in the cases of cancer and several other critical illnesses such as heart attack, stroke etc., the need for a Critical Illness Health Insurance has become pertinent. The Critical illness health insurance allows coverage against varied healthcare conditions caused due to severe and deadly diseases. Under these policies, the policyholder is paid a lump sum amount in case they are diagnosed with a critical illness.

Below are some best policies to consider to cover against critical illnesses.

Critical Illness Health Insurance Plans	Health Insurance Companies	Network Hospitals	Coverage Benefits
Niva Bupa CritiCare Plan	Niva Bupa Health Insurance	7600+	20 Critical Illness Covered   Hospital Daily Cash Lifetime Renewability
Star Criticare Plus Plan	Star Health Insurance	12000+	Daycare treatments   Ambulance expenses Non-allopathic Treatment Covered
ManipalCigna Lifestyle Protection Critical Care	ManipalCigna Health Insurance	6500+	30 Critical Illness Covered   Online Wellness Program Coverage for open Heart Surgery
Care Critical Illness Plan	Care Health Insurance	16500+	32 Critical Illness Covered   Dialysis Cover Annual Health Checkup
HDFC Ergo Critical Illness Platinum Plan	HDFC Ergo Health Insurance	13000+	15 Critical Illness Covered   Lifetime Renewability Coverage for paralysis

 

>>Best Critical Illness Plans Their Benefits and Features Know in Detail

Benefits of Best Health Insurance plans

Health insurance plans allow several benefits to the insured and his/her family by covering them against critical diseases, injuries etc.  A comprehensive health insurance can take care of all your healthcare needs. Here are some of the benefits of health insurance mentioned below:

• Free Annual Medical Checkups –  One of the best things about health insurance policies is that they allow free annual medical checkups to the insured. This benefit help in keeping a check on the overall health and wellbeing of a person and lowers the risk of deadly diseases
• Cashless treatment – This is by far the most lucrative benefit that a health insurance policy offers. The cashless treatment facility at the insurer’s network hospitals allow the policyholder to avail immediate and hassle-free healthcare treatments without having to pay anything from their pocket
• Greater Coverage –  These plans allow coverage against health needs and expenses like the pre and post-hospitalization costs, maternity expenses, daycare treatments etc., which is a significant benefit of health insurance policies
• Tax Benefits –  Another major advantage of health insurance plans is that they allow the insured to avail tax benefits under section 80D on policy premiums paid for up to INR 25,000. In case of elderly above 60 years of age, the deduction limit is INR 50,000
• Add-on Riders – The additional riders provided under a health insurance plan allow the insured to enhance his/her existing coverage by paying a certain extra premium

Why Is It Important to Buy the Best Health Insurance Plan?

Best health insurance plan is a comprehensive policy that provides complete protection to your health from  several diseases  without any hidden charges or clauses.  These days due to the rising inflation the cost of healthcare facilities is getting higher. Moreover, everything has become very expensive including the cost incurred on availing medical facilities. Thus, to take care of your health care needs and to stay covered against maximum health conditions, it is important to buy a  comprehensive health insurance plan meeting all your needs.

Also, a health insurance plan reduces the burden of future healthcare costs that might arise due to any emergency caused to you or your family members. However, the range of options available in the market makes it evident for the policy seeker to get confused on the best health plans to choose from.

Thus, it is important to do proper research and compare policies so that you can choose a plan to meet your requirements.

How to make your  final Choice regarding the Best Health Insurance Plan?

If you check insurance plans online, you would see that your one click can bring on a range of options in front of you. It is very obvious to get confused with so many varied options, especially  when all the plans available are unique with exclusive features and benefits.

Hence, it is important to check the exclusions and inclusions of health insurance policies before buying a plan.  Further, in case of any confusion you must contact the customer care of the insurer to clear your doubt and get assistance in choosing the best health plan.

Below are some factors to consider before buying a health insurance plan:

• Ensure that the Sum Assured is adequate  –  To meet the skyrocketing expenses of healthcare services due to inflation, it is important to ensure that you have adequate sum insured under your health insurance plan. This will help to deal with the rising costs of health facilities.
• Ensure to have the Right Coverage – Along with enough sum assured, it is also important to buy a health plan that is budget friendly with good coverage. In case you feel that the health insurance premium is beyond your affordability, you can apply a co-pay clause to your plan, which you can remove later.
• Don’t forget to check the waiting Period – Make sure to check the waiting period that is applied on the pre-existing diseases under your health insurance plan before you buy the policy.  Go for a plan that offers coverage for pre-existing diseases with shorter duration so that you can avail coverage under the plan soon.
• Check for Extensive Network Hospitals – Also, it is important to ensure that the insurer you are buying the plan from provides a wide range of network hospitals to get cashless treatments. You may check if your preferred list of hospitals are there in the list of the insurer or not.
• Look for a high Claim Settlement Ratio – It is very important to buy a health insurance policy from a health insurance company offering a high claim settlement ratio. The number of claims settled by your preferred insurer as compared to the total number of claims received in a year by that insurer is the claim settlement ratio of the company.
• Compare Policies –  Of course, once you check all the above mentioned points you need to compare the shortlisted health policies on various aspects so that you can choose the plan as per your need and within your budget.
• Co-pays and Sub-limits –  The best health insurance plan in India would be available with no sub-limits or co-pay clauses. These clauses might limit the coverage offered.
• Look for Lifetime Renewability –  Always go for a health insurance plan with the option of lifetime renewability so that you can continue with the plan throughout life. This way, you can avoid the inconvenience of purchasing expensive health policies later in life.