Top 10 Best Health Insurance Companies in India
In order to help you with the best and safest buying experience, we’ve compiled a list of top 10 best health insurance companies in India. This list is prepared based on incurred claim ratio (ICR) and the overall financial standings of these companies. With this list, you can easily compare health insurance companies in India and pick the one that features the best health insurance plans at affordable premium rates. Let’s have a look at the list below:
- Star Health Insurance
- HDFC Ergo Health Insurance
- Cigna TTK Health Insurance
- Apollo Munich Health Insurance
- Bajaj Allianz Health Insurance
- Bharti AXA Health Insurance
- Cholamandalam MS Health Insurance
- Future Generali Health Insurance
- SBI Health Insurance
- Religare Health Insurance
Lets discuss about these Health Insurance Providers in detail
Star Health Insurancee
India’s first standalone health insurance company, Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd. was founded in the year 2006. The initial business focus was on Overseas Medicliam Policy, Health Insurance, and Personal Accident Plan but the vision has now expanded. Since then, the company has been trying to deliver innovative insurance solutions to its customers. Today, Star Health is counted among the best health insurers in India. It has more than 340 branches around the world and more than 8400 network hospitals across the country to offer cashless facilities to its policyholders. Moreover, the company settled around 3,78,710 claims in the year 2016-17. For its excellent performance, Hindustan MaRs Survey rated Star Health as the company with the best claim settlement.
Apollo Munich Health Insurance
A joint venture between Apollo Hospitals Group, India’s premier private hospitals company and Munich Health, the medical insurance arm of Munich Re, the German reinsurance major, Apollo Munich Insurance is a focused insurance services provider in India providing a range of health insurance plans. The health insurance company merges the corporate healthcare competencies of Apollo Hospitals Group with the global healthcare insurance and reinsurance expertise of Munich Health.
The company has won numerous accolades over the years and has recently been honoured with awards like the Infosec Maestros Awards - 100 Top CISO 2015 for the second time in a row and Health Insurance Provider Award by Money Today (of India Today Group) and Financial Planning Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd. (FPCIL) in 2015.
Apollo Munich Insurance focuses on being a trusted leader in the health insurance space with its innovative solutions. Their mission is to regularly introduce pioneering health insurance and wellness solutions that meet customer needs. The company also intends to build an organisation on the principles of transparency, trust and integrity that can constantly deliver on various commitments to all stakeholders.
Bajaj Allianz Health Insurance
A joint venture of Bajaj Finserv Limited, a comprehensive financial services company based out of India and Allianz SE, the global financial services major based out of Munich, Germany, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company focuses on the general insurance space in the country, including medical insurance. The joint venture seeks to leverage successfully Bajaj Finserv's in-depth understanding of the local Indian market and its extensive distribution network across the country with the vast global experience of the Allianz Group. Bajaj Finserv Limited holds a 74% stake in the general insurance company while Allianz holds the remainder.
The company has been one of the outperformers in the space as testified by it receiving the iAAA rating from ICRA for the 10th year in a row. The rating highlights the company's highest claims paying ability and its strong position in the general insurance industry. Most recently, the company was conferred the Economic Times; Best Corporate Brand Award as an outcome of the newspaper's Best Brands Survey for 2016. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance was also acknowledged as the Most Admired Health Insurance Company of 2015 by Pharma Leaders Power Brands Awards. In addition, Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) ranked it second among the top health insurance brands in the country on the basis of customer loyalty based on a syndicated survey.
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance was also recently awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by Rajasthan High Court, and Punjab and Haryana High Court for excellence in the field of claim servicing for motor third party claims. Other awards in 2015 included The Silicon Valley Business Award 2015 under the categories of Best Financial App and Best Overall App for Insurance Wallet product. In addition, it won the Claims Award Asia 2015 for the third year running, under the categories of Insurer Claims Team of the Year for Claim Settlement during the Jammu and Kashmir floods, and Claims Innovation of the Year for launching pioneering claim settlement practices for health insurance claims.
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance intends to be the first choice in insurance for Indians. It has a mission to be a responsible and customer focused market leader that understands and meets the insurance needs of the market through affordable, value for money products.
Bharti AXA Health Insurance
A joint venture of Bharti Enterprises, one of Indian's leading business groups, and AXA, the France-based international insurance solutions company, Bharti AXA General Insurance is a provider of various general insurance solutions in addition to health insurance. Bharti Enterprises owns the majority 74% stake while AXA holds the remainder in the company. Bharti AXA General Insurance started operations in August 2008 and is headquartered in Bangalore and has 59 branches across India.
The company has received numerous awards for innovation and performance over the years, among other categories. In 2014, it received the Asia Insurance Industry award for its initiative to reach the under penetrated smaller towns and cities where the physical branch network was limited. In addition, it received the honour of being the best insurance company in the private general insurance sector from the World HRD Congress at the 2014 BFSI Awards.
Bharti AXA General Insurance focuses on serving all its stakeholders including its customers, business partners, employees, shareholders and the overall society. It uses its fundamental values of professionalism, integrity, team work, innovation and pragmatism to realign industry standards through empathetic service that helps drive customers towards its comprehensive and innovative insurance solutions.
Cholamandalam MS Health Insurance
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited, established in 2001, was set up by the India-based Murugappa Group, a multi-business conglomerate, and the Japan-based Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group as a joint venture to address the general insurance market in India. The company provides both individual and corporate insurance solutions through its 105 branches and 9000 plus agents in the country.
Also known as Chola MS, the company was awarded the best insurance company across Asia as ‘Health Insurer Claims Team’ at the 2013 Claims Asia Awards. It also received the ‘Innovation Leader Award’ for 2012 from Fintelekt and was adjudged the best insurance company for ‘In time Claims Settlement for the year 2011-12’ in the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) scheme operated under the aegis of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
Cholamandalam MS has a singular focus on value creation and hopes to become the most respected general insurance company in India. It uses a T3 strategy of Trust, Transparency and Technology to deliver innovative risk-free medical insurance solutions for all its customers.
Cigna TTK Health Insurance
Established as a joint venture between TTK Group, the Indian conglomerate and Cigna Corporation, the US based international medical insurance solutions company, CignaTTK Health Insurance Company Limited focuses on providing health policy solutions to the Indian market. The health insurance company was launched in February 2014 and has ramped up its operations to create a pan India presence across 15 cities within a short while. The company is headquartered in Mumbai.
The company was recently awarded the Economic Times’ ‘Best Promising Brands 2015’ award. CignaTTK has also shown its focus on good health and wellness and has served as the official health insurance partner for the popular Delhi and Mumbai marathons.
CignaTTK Health Insurance Company’s mission is to improve the health, well-being and sense of security of the people. Its service philosophy is to make customer experiences easy and reliable so that customers always receive personalised and empathetic services.
Future Generali Health Insurance
A joint venture of the Indian conglomerate Future Group, and the Generali Group, one of the world’s largest international insurance companies, Future Generali India Insurance Company has a pan India presence through its 137 branches. The company provides a range of insurance solutions and intends to exploit the expansive network and local experience of the Future Group and the in-depth insurance expertise of Generali Group.
It's solutions include both life insurance and general insurance, with the latter providing solutions for motor insurance, travel insurance, home insurance besides a host of health insurance policies. The company has also moved into the rural and commercial insurance space and provides a range of products that take care of the specific needs of these sectors.
HDFC Ergo Health Insurance
A 74:26 joint venture between HDFC Limited, India’s premier housing finance institution, and ERGO International AG, the primary insurance entity of global reinsurance and insurance major, Munich Re Group, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company provides a range of solutions for the general insurance market in India. The company has been expanding its network across the country at a rapid pace and currently has 109 branches across 89 cities. The company has an employee base of over 1900 people.
HDFC ERGO General Insurance has been awarded the ‘iAAA’ rating by ICRA that indicates its highest claim paying ability. The company has also received the CMS Outstanding Affiliate World-Class Service Award for 2015 from Chubb Multinational Solutions in addition to ICAI Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting in the Annual Report for the financial year 2014-15 under the insurance sector category.
SBI Health Insurance
SBI Health Insurance operated as a joint venture between State Bank of India and Insurance Australia Group. The company offers a range of health plans for both individuals and groups. Serving a large share of insurance customers in India, it has gained the trust of its existing as well as prospective customers. Over these years, the company has successfully established its feet in the vast insurance market of India. The health insurance products of SBI allow its customers to manage their financial expenses. Based on the health cover required, its customer can opt for plans with sum assured up to Rs. 50, 000 to Rs. 5, 00,000.
Religare Health Insurance
Religare Health Insurance, founded by Religare Enterprise Limited along with Corporation Bank and Union Bank of India, operates as a standalone insurance company. The company, during its service years, has successfully managed to be one amongst the most popular medical insurance companies in India.
With a wide network of over 4, 100 hospitals across the country, the company is promoted by the founders of India’s leading private hospital chain, Fortis Hospitals. The insurance claims are directly entertained by the company executives and there is no third-party involved in the claim processing. Based on the coverage offered by individual health plans, customers can opt for riders for protection enhancement.