Top 10 Health Insurance Company
Today investment has become a valuable topic of discussion among the youth, but there are a lot of important points that one should keep in mind before investing their hard-earned money. There are different ways of investing your money to make short and long-term profits, but one needs to be very mindful about investment, especially if you are a beginner; the enormous amount of information available can make you feel overwhelmed.
You can invest in the stock market, trading, mutual funds through agents or different apps, but before you start all this, it’s very important to invest in your and your family’s health. Some of you might be thinking that health insurance is an expense and not an investment, but that’s not the case with the ever-expanding number of diseases and expensive treatments. Health insurance is an investment benefit in the long run that will cover you and your family of all the unforeseen medical expenses. It will also be beneficial in your tax returns and cashless medical treatment. We can back up this by the data of National Health Policy 2015, according to which 63 crore people are pushed towards poverty due to catastrophic medical expenditures.
In almost all developed countries around the globe, having health insurance is important even in countries with a small population like Japan has been covered under health insurance. However, in India, people still hesitate to invest, thinking they will be healthy forever, but health insurance is a much-needed financial backup.
Now another question that arises is which health insurance company will be the best to make such investment well; we got you covered for that IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) publishes every year the list of the top health insurance companies in India on the basis of their performance with regard to companies’ ICR (Incurred Claims Ratio) and their overall financial standing. There are two types of insurers, Specialized Health Insurance companies, and General Insurance companies (public & private), that are authorized to offer the plans to the public. So here is the list of the top 10 health insurance companies in India.
1) HDFC ERGO General Insurance Limited
It is a joint venture of HDFC Limited and ERGO International AG. ERGO International AG is the insurance entity of Munich ReGroup in Germany and became 49% stakeholder in 2015. The company offers products in three sectors rural, corporate, and retail. Health insurance is covered in the retail sector along with travel, motor, home, cyber security, and personal accident. Its Incurred Claims Ratio is impressive at almost 74% in the financial year 2019-2020 and 63% for the financial year 2018-19. It offers many innovative benefits like lifetime renewal and portability benefits of existing policies. HDFC ERGO has a good Claim Settlement Ratio of 99% in the financial year 2019-2020.
2) Star Health & Allied Insurance Company Limited
It is a joint venture between ETA Ascon Group and Oman Health Insurance Company. It is a multinational Indian health insurance company founded in 2006 whose headquarters is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It not only provides health insurance but also provides services in personal accident and overseas travel insurance. The ICR of the company for the financial year 2019-2020 is 66%. The in-house TPA of the company deals with cashless facilities while they also come up with exciting products like Star NetPlus (for HIV+ patients) and Diabetes Safe (for diabetic patients). The Claim Settlement Ratio of this company is 90% for the financial year 2019-2020.
3) Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited
It is a joint venture company between Bupa Group (a UK-based international healthcare group) and Max India Limited and was founded in 2008. New Delhi is the headquarters of this company. In 2019 the company launched ATH (Any Time Health) machine so that customers can buy health insurance in a few seconds. The Incurred Claim Ratio for the financial year 2019-2020 was 54% and the same for FY 2018-2019. It offers citizens of all age groups to get enrolled in its policies. The Claim Settlement Ratio of Niva Bupa for the financial year 2019-2020 is 96%. It has won different awards for being the best product and brand in the last few years.
4) SBI General Insurance Company Limited
This company is a joint venture between IAG (Insurance Australian Group) and State Bank of India and was founded in 2009 with its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It serves its product in India and provides worldwide. As everyone knows, SBI is the largest public sector bank that covers 110 cities and 23000 branches. It offers health insurance products along with many other insurances products like vehicle, aviation, travel, home, crop, etc. The ICR (Incurred Claim Ratio) for the financial year 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 is 72%, and its CSR (Claim Settlement Ratio) is 95% for FY 2019-2020.
5) Care Health Insurance Company
This insurance company was launched in 2012 with its headquarters in Gurugram, Haryana. It is a joint venture company between Union Bank of India, Corporation Bank, and Care Enterprises Limited (a direct subsidiary of Religare Enterprises Limited). Anuj Gulati is the Managing Director and CEO of the company. It offers its insurance services in travel, health, and accident. It has shown tremendous growth in a very short span of time. Its Incurred Claim Ratio is 59% for the financial year 2019-2020 and 95% for Claim Settlement Ratio for FY 2019-2020. The makers of Fortis Hospital promote this company. It has won Best Medical/Health Insurance Product Award in 2015, 2018, and 2019 at the FICCI Healthcare Excellence Awards.
6) Manipal Cigna Health Insurance Company Limited
This health insurance company was founded in 2014 with its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and is comparatively new in the Indian insurance sector. Though it’s new, it is among one of the best health insurance companies in our country. This company is a merger between Indian conglomerate Manipal Group and US-based leading health service provider Cigna Corporation. It provides different health insurance products in 11 cities. Its Incurred Claim Ratio for the financial year 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 is 62% and has an impressive Claim Settlement Ratio of 90% in the FY 2019-2020.
7) Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited
It is a private insurance company in India. It is a joint venture between the world’s leading insurer Allianz (Germany’s multinational financial service company) and Bajaj Finserva Limited and has been active since 2001. It is one of the largest insurance companies (private) in this industry and has offices in 1100 cities and towns. There are mainly 3 major products that this insurance company offers: Health Guard, Star Package, and Silver Health. It is the first company that provided captive TPA with certain efficiencies. The ICR of the company in the financial year 2018-2019 was 69% and 71% in FY 2019-2020. The ICR for the financial year 2019-2020 was 98%.
8) New India Assurance Company Limited
It is one of the oldest insurance companies that was founded in 1919 with its headquarter in Mumbai, Maharashtra, by Dorabji Tata and was nationalized in 1973. It is the largest nationalized general insurance company under the ownership of the Ministry of Finance. It is the largest insurance company (nationalized) on the basis of its gross premium collection that includes foreign operations. It offers various insurance products like health insurance, general insurance, marine and aviation insurance, crop, vehicle insurance, etc. This insurance company is most known for its Mediclaim policy, and the unique feature of this policy is that it provides a differential rating for major metros in comparison to other locations. The ICR for the financial year 2019-2020 is 92%.
9) Oriental Insurance Company Limited
This is a nationalized general insurance company under the possession of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It was founded in September 1947, with its headquarters in New Delhi. This insurance company has more than 1800 branches 31 regional offices, and apart from this, it also has branches in Dubai, Kuwait, and Nepal. It offers several health insurance products. The best thing about this insurance company is that it doesn’t require a medical examination of the customer up to 60 years of age. In contrast, another company requires medical examination above the age of 45. The Incurred Claims Ratio for the financial year 2019-2020 is 102%, and its Claim Settlement Ratio is 89% for the financial year 2019-2020.
10) National Insurance Company Limited
It is a nationalized insurance company under the ownership of the Ministry of Finance, GoI, and was founded by Gordhan Das Dutia in 1906, with its headquarters in Kolkata, West Bengal. This company serves in India and Nepal. It has various insurance products like health, general, marine, vehicle, and property. Its Incurred Claim Ratio for the financial year 2019-2020 is 106%. Varishtha Mediclaim for senior citizens is the company’s most popular health insurance product.