New India Assurance launched cheapest top-up health insurance plan

Largest health insurance provider New India Assurance (NIA) on 1 December 2014 launched the cheapest top-up health insurance plan in the country.

It will be sold as an individual policy and also as a family floater plan where the sum insured is shared among all members of a family.

As per the plan,

• Hospitalization expenses ranging from 15 lakh rupees to 20 lakh rupees can be availed for 3500 rupees a year for someone up to 44 years.
• It covers person with a basic mediclaim policy and uninsured people who are in a position to bear expenses up to the threshold limit of 5 lakh rupees on their own.

• It provides for a sub-limit in respect of room charges. The room rental limit is 5000 rupees per day for someone with a 5 lakh rupees threshold and 8000 rupees if the person goes for an 8 lakh rupees threshold.
• It covers critical illness and small critical illness to take care of the non-hospitalisation expenses also.
• A unique aspect of NIA's cover is that for the threshold limit to be reached, all hospitalization expenses are taken into account irrespective of whether the expenses would qualify as an insurance claim.

This new top-up health plan of NIA has the potential to be disruptive given its pricing and the distribution reach of the country's largest non-life insurer.