Moneycontrol-SecureNow Health Insurance Ratings: Picking the health insurance that really matters

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The past two years have been tough.

The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated how a deadly virus could leave a devastating impact across the globe.

With only 12 percent of India’s 1 billion-plus people insured by their employers, most of India’s population needs a nudge to buy personal health insurance policies.

Medicals bills and escalating insurance inflation (the rise in prices of medicines, hospital costs, medical care and so on) can leave a big hole in your pocket, especially if your office-provided cover vanishes if you lose your job or you join a new company that doesn’t offer insurance cover, or worse, your company decides it can’t afford to give you health insurance any longer.

Personal health insurance cover is important. But with so many health insurance plans in the market layered with benefits, shopping for health insurance can be difficult.

Enter Moneycontrol-SecureNow Health Insurance Ratings. This brand new tool from Moneycontrol helps you pick the best health insurance policy.

Wait! Why not just choose a health insurance cover with the cheapest premium?

That is a slippery path. And there are three reasons:

1. A low-premium policy would, most likely, provide insufficient coverage, which means much higher out-of-pocket expenses in case of hospitalisation.
2. While the premium may be low initially, there is no saying how much the price will spike up to in the future.
3. If you do end up using your health insurance or contract an illness, there is a good chance you might not be able to port your plan in future.

Moneycontrol-SecureNow Health Insurance Ratings sifted through 27 insurance companies and more than 130 health insurance policies to identify those that are not only comprehensive, but also have a good track record as far as the claims experience goes. Deepti Bhaskaran, a former personal finance journalist, was consulted for these ratings

Let’s meet the winners, shall we?