Best Health Insurance Plans of 2026

1- Health insurance data and ratings were last updated in January 2026. All data has been sourced from product brochures, policy wordings, prospectus, public disclosures (Q4, FY 2024-2025), insurer websites, and the IRDAI website. 

2- The Claims Settlement Ratio data is taken from NL-37, insurer public disclosures (Q4, FY 2024-2025). It is calculated by dividing health insurance claims settled divided by health insurance claims reported plus those outstanding at the start of the year.

3- The data related to claim complaints and policy purchase complaints is taken from NL-45, insurer public disclosures (Q4, FY 2024-2025).

4- The Solvency Ratio data is taken from NL-26, insurer public disclosures (Q4, FY 2024-2025).

5- The data related to claims settled within 30 days is taken from NL-39, insurer public disclosures (Q4, FY 2024-2025). It is calculated by dividing number of health insurance claims paid within 30 days by the total health insurance claims paid during the year.

6- The Claims Incurred Ratio data is taken from NL-4 and NL-5, insurer public disclosures (Q4, FY 2024-2025). It is calculated by dividing the Net Claims Incurred by the Net Earned Premium.

7- The Turnover data is taken from NL-4, insurer public disclosures (Q4, FY 2024-2025). It is calculated by converting net written premium to gross written premium.

8- The number of policies and claims data is taken from NL-45, insurer public disclosures (Q4, FY 2024-2025).

9- The Claim Rejection Ratio data is taken from NL- 37, insurer public disclosures (Q4, FY 2024-2025). It is calculated by dividing total claims repudiated and rejected by the sum of total claims outstanding at the beginning of the year and total claims reported during the period.     

10- For now, we have considered the most comprehensive plans from leading insurance companies. We will keep updating the product pages with new plans in the coming days.

11- We have rated only those plans that can be serviced by individual advisors. This is because of our strong belief that health insurance customers need professional assistance from individual advisors before and after purchase. We do not recommend and hence do not rate direct-to-customer health insurance plans or plans where there aren't enough advisors available to service. 

12- Affordability assessment of plans: 

• The affordability of comprehensive plans is assessed using premiums for a family of two adults (30 years old) and one child (1 year old) residing in Zone 1, opting for a cover of ₹10 Lakhs. 
• The affordability of Care Freedom Plan is assessed using premiums for a 30-year-old male residing in Zone 1, opting for a cover of ₹5 Lakhs. And, the premium is as of 30th September 2023.
• The affordability of Acko Platinum Health Insurance is assessed using premiums for a family of two adults (30 years old) and one child (1 year old) residing in Zone 1, opting for a cover of ₹25 Lakhs. And, the premium is as of February 2024.
• The affordability of ICICI Lombard MaxProtect (Premium) is assessed using premiums for a family of two adults (30 years old) and one child (1 year old) residing in Zone 1, opting for a cover of ₹1 Crore. And, the premium is as of February 2024.
• The affordability of Niva Bupa - Senior First (Platinum), Manipal Cigna - Prime Senior (Elite) is assessed using premiums for a family of two adults (61 years old) residing in Zone 1, opting for a cover of ₹10 Lakhs. And, the premium is as of February 2024.
• The affordability of Aditya Birla Activ One (VIP+) is assessed using premiums for a family of two adults (30 years old) and one child (1 year old) residing in Zone 1, opting for a cover of ₹50 Lakhs. And, the premium is as of March 2024.
• The affordability of Aditya Birla Activ One (VIP) is assessed using premiums for a family of two adults (30 years old) and one child (1 year old) residing in Zone 1, opting for a cover of ₹50 Lakhs. And, the premium is as of April 2024.
• The affordability of Care Advantage Plan is assessed using premiums for a family of two adults (30 years old) and one child (1 year old) residing in Zone 1, opting for a cover of ₹25 Lakhs. And, the premium is as of April 2024.
• The affordability of Reliance General Health Global (Elite) Plan is assessed using premiums for a family of two adults (30 years old) and one child (1 year old), opting for an India cover of ₹1.5 Crores and global cover of $0.15 Million. And, the premium is as of August 2024.
• The affordability of Star Health - Premier is assessed using premiums for a family of two adults (61 years old) residing in Zone 1, opting for a cover of ₹10 Lakhs. And, the premium is as of April 2025.
• The affordability of ManipalCigna - LifeTime Health (India) is assessed using premiums for a family of two adults (30 years old) and one child (1 year old) residing in Zone 1, opting for a cover of ₹50 Lakhs. And, the premium is as of April 2025.
• The affordability of Care Insurance Senior Health Advantage is assessed using premiums for a family of two adults (61 years old) residing in Zone 1, opting for a cover of ₹10 Lakhs. And, the premium is as of June 2025.

13-Premium ratings are as of 19th January 2026.

• For Activ One (VYTL), asthma was considered as the PED for premium retrieval. 
• Aditya Birla Health – Activ Health Platinum (Enhanced): child age set to 5 years (minimum allowed). 
• Care Plus: one adult must be 35+; test case updated accordingly to meet the minimum requirement. 
• Care Supreme (Vikas): one adult must be 30+; test case updated accordingly to meet the minimum requirement.

14- We have considered the Inflation Protection benefit under Acko’s Platinum and Standard Health Plan instead of the No Claim Bonus Benefit.

15- We have only considered features, benefits, and limits of ‘India Cover’ under Reliance General's Health Global (Elite) Plan.  

16- The product benefits section is based on a sum insured of ₹10 Lakhs and only highlights the top benefits and features of health insurance plans. 

17- Only those hidden and special conditions that apply to the benefits and features we have considered are included on the product pages. 

18- The product pages only include the most significant specific exclusions under each plan, which we've simplified for better understanding.

19- The product pages do not include any generic terms, conditions, or exclusions (those that are the same and apply to all health insurance plans).

20- If the policy wording, brochure, or prospectus states that a benefit/feature is available with a specific plan but it is not available online when generating the premium quote, we have not considered that benefit/feature to be available with the plan.

21- We take into account more parameters, beyond those shown above, when calculating the customer service rating.

22- The response time on X (Twitter) was calculated using a sample set of tweets from January 2025 to June 2025 (analyzed in June 2025). The Response time on Toll Free was last evaluated in June 2025.

23- The metrics like claim complaints, policy purchase complaints, response time on Twitter and toll-free are not related to a specific product but are related to the overall performance of the insurance company.

24- The network hospitals' data was last updated in April 2025.