Recently, numerous health insurance plans have introduced fitness incentives. Some calculate discounts based on monthly steps recorded through an app, while others provide discounts on gym memberships, AI fitness coaches, etc.
Aditya Birla’s Activ Fit health insurance plan is the perfect example of a policy that fits this mould. The plan offers a host of discounts, is feature-rich, has minimal restrictions, and a couple of caveats. The plan’s tagline of “Fitness ka Ultimate Influencer” stands true to its diverse range of wellness perks and is thus, a good fit for young people. On the other hand, Aditya Birla is now a household name for its portfolio of affordable health insurance plans. Also, the insurer is a fairly young company, something that we don't look at favourably.
As to if, Aditya Brla’s Activ Fit health insurance plan can be a worthy purchase or not - here’s what we think!
Quick Verdict on Aditya Birla Activ Fit Health Insurance Plan
Aditya Birla Activ Fit is a good pick if you are a young adult with no pre-existing health issues and no complications in your medical track record. The policy has a multitude of discounts on the premium, provided you are found healthy in their Health Assessment Program. However, Aditya Birla is still fairly new to the insurance industry and its complaint volume could be a bit of a concern for prospective customers.
And in case you are set on this policy, best opt for the Plus variant to get more affordable premiums (since maternity is not included in the plan) and a sum insured that is greater than ₹5 lakhs (to avoid room rent restrictions).
Aditya Birla Activ Fit Health Insurance Plan: Brief Overview
Aditya Birla Health Insurance, launched in 2016, offers popular, affordable, and feature-rich health insurance products with minimal restrictions. The insurer has an average (3 years) Claim Settlement Ratio of 92.99%, which is higher than the industry average of 90.97%. However, the current complaint volume is 26.33 per 10,000 claims, slightly higher than the industry average of 24.029. Despite this concern, given the insurer's track record of less than a decade and its promising trajectory, we remain hopeful that these numbers will improve in the future.
Aditya Birla's Activ Fit health insurance offers two variants:
- Plus, with individual, multi-individual, and family floater options, and
- Preferred, available only as a family floater.
The key difference is that the Plus variant lacks maternity coverage, while the Preferred variant includes maternity benefits with a 3-year waiting period, reducible through an add-on. However, please note that this maternity coverage comes with a sub-limit.
Activ Fit offers a sum insured range of ₹1 lakh to ₹1 crore, no disease-wise sub-limits (except in the Preferred variant for maternity), no copayment, unlimited automatic restoration, 90/180 days of pre-and post-hospitalization, daycare coverage, domiciliary coverage, health returns, and more.
However, like any other health insurance policy, this plan too has a couple of caveats.
- First, room rent restrictions. This is the feature that is a major concern for us. Based on the sum insured that you have chosen, if the sum insured is less than ₹5 lakhs, you can either expect a room rent restriction or a room type restriction. In case you chose a health insurance policy coverage above ₹5 lakhs, there are no room rent/type restrictions.
- Second, both the No-Claim Bonus and the add-on of a Super No-Claim Bonus (mandatory) come with a measly range of bonuses: 10% to 100% and 50% to 100%, respectively. Moreover, both these bonuses come with a clawback. Meaning if you do make a claim in any year, the bonus will be taken away next year.
Here’s a look into the features of the Aditya Birla Activ Fit health insurance policy in detail -
Features of Aditya Birla Activ Fit Health Insurance Plan
| FEATURES | DETAILS |
|---|---|
| Variants | Plus (individual, multi-individual and family floater) Preferred (family floater) |
| Coverage | ₹1 lakh - ₹1 crore |
| Copayment | No |
| Room rent restrictions | If the sum insured is less than ₹5 lakhs |
| Affordability of premiums | Yes |
| Waiting period | Initial: 30 days Pre-Existing: 4 years Specific: 2 years Maternity: 3 years |
| Daycare coverage | Up to the sum insured |
| AYUSH coverage | Up to the sum insured |
| Pre & Post Hospitalisation | 90 and 180 days |
| Modern Treatment | Up to the sum insured |
| Add-ons available | Super No-Claim Bonus | OPD | Reduction in maternity waiting period | Travel Protect Cover | Premiums Waiver Cover | EMI Protection Cover | Consumables Coverage |
Should You Buy Aditya Birla Activ Fit Health Insurance Plan?
- Aditya Birla as an insurer: Aditya Birla, a general insurance company with 10,500+ network hospitals, is popular for affordable health insurance plans catering to various demographics. Specialised policies for young adults, senior citizens, and those with pre-existing conditions enhance its appeal. The company's emphasis on fitness is reflected in features offering increased discounts on premiums during renewals.
While on the fast track to becoming a trusted provider, resolving issues causing higher complaint volumes is crucial for Aditya Birla's credibility.
2. Room Rent Restrictions: Aditya Birla Activ Fit indeed has room rent restrictions that are a concern for us. However, these room rent restrictions are only applicable if you choose a sum insured that’s less than ₹5 lakhs, and considering the recent medical inflation, policyholders rarely choose such a low cover. So, this caveat is a manageable one.
However, if you are planning to buy the Aditya Birla Activ Fit health insurance plan, here’s what the room rent restrictions look like -
| Sum Insured | Room Rent/Type Restrictions |
|---|---|
| ₹1 lakh and ₹2 lakhs | Up to 2% of the Sum insured |
| ₹3 lakhs and ₹4 lakhs | Up to a single private room |
| ₹5 lakhs and above | No restrictions |
In terms of ICU charges,
| Sum Insured | ICU Room Rent/Type Restrictions |
|---|---|
| ₹1 lakh and ₹2 lakhs | Up to 4% of the Sum insured |
| ₹3 lakhs and above | Actuals |
3. Maternity Coverage: At Ditto, we usually don’t recommend maternity health insurance plans since this feature often leads to higher premiums and an unreasonable waiting period. Accordingly, the Aditya Birla Activ Fit’s Plus variant doesn’t offer any maternity coverage and thus the premiums aren’t exorbitant. However, the Preferred variant does and the highlights of this feature include -
| Aspects | Details |
|---|---|
| Waiting Period | 3 years |
| Reduction in Waiting Period | 3 years or 2 years This is a paid add-on |
| Coverage | Up to 2 deliveries/terminations of pregnancies (medically required and suggested by a licensed doctor) |
| Sum insured assigned | • Up to ₹40k for normal deliveries • Up to ₹60k for C-section deliveries |
4. Available Add-Ons: The Activ Fit health insurance plan from Aditya Birla offers numerous add-ons, some of which are unique in health insurance. Here’s a look at the add-ons -
- Super No-Claim Bonus: The Super No-Claim Bonus is a mandatory add-on providing a bonus of 50% to 100%, but it leads to clawback even with claims, making it somewhat redundant.
- OPD: OPD coverage as an add-on usually raises premiums, imposes restrictions on doctor consultations, and sets sub-limits on the sum insured. Additionally, with Aditya Birla's Activ Fit, OPD coverage is available only through cashless payments in selected cities.
- Reduction in maternity waiting period: The add-on for reducing the maternity waiting period is exclusive to the Preferred variant and is yet to be implemented.
In case you are purchasing the Preferred version, you might as well get this add-on, since the maternity perk is an in-built feature for this variant. At least with this add-on, you will have a reduced waiting period.
- Travel Protect Cover: The Travel Protect Cover is a unique add-on to Aditya Birla Activ Fit health insurance, offering perks similar to travel insurance with a fixed yearly payout. It covers -
- Total loss of checked-in baggage benefit
- Delay of checked-in baggage
- Trip cancellation & interruption
- Trip interruption
- Trip delay
- Missed flight connection
However, each feature has specific terms, conditions, exclusions, and restrictions. Moreover, there's a sub-limit on the coverage—up to ₹10k for the Plus variant and ₹20k for the Preferred variant.
Despite its uniqueness, the sub-limit, restrictions, and conditions make regular travel insurance plans a preferable choice over this add-on.
- Premiums Waiver Cover: Much like in the case of term insurance plans, this add-on waives off premiums (for one year) if you are diagnosed with a critical ailment or in case you face total and permanent disability due to an accident. However, the rider only extends this perk once in the lifetime of a policy and as we noted, the waiver is applicable only for a year.
- EMI Protection Cover: Say, you are hospitalised for more than 6 consecutive days. This incurred a lengthy hospital bill that created a financial crunch. In case you have an existing loan, paying that EMI would now be a cumbersome task.
However, if you have opted for the Aditya Birla Avtiv Fit health insurance plan and the EMI Protection Cover, the insurer will disburse 3 months’ of EMI as a lump sum after your discharge from the hospital. This will aid in the payment towards your loan preventing late fees on missed EMIs.
However, please remember that this perk can be tapped in only once across the lifetime of a policy and the sub-limit on this perk ranges from ₹10k to ₹1 lakh, based on the chosen sum insured.
- Consumables Coverage: Generally, consumables (equipment required during hospitalisation, surgeries, procedures, and treatments like gloves, PPE kits, etc.) are not covered under standard health insurance plans. With this add-on, 68 of the listed consumables will be covered by your insurer.
5. The Activ Fit angle: Aditya Birla promotes Activ Fit health insurance as ideal for young adults due to its fitness benefits, including -
- Upfront Good Health Discount - Up to 10% of the premium, based on good health risk classification. This discount can be applied at the time of inception.
- Mental Health Assessment Program (in-built) - Offers screening for mental health and consultation
- Health Returns (in-built) - Up to 50% of the base premiums (based on the steps walked/ conducted health assessment)
- Health Assessment Program (in-built) - This is available only once a year over cashless modes at network facilities. It offers coverage for Medical Examination Reports (MER) using BP (Blood Pressure), BMI (Body Mass Index), HWR (Height –to- height-weight ratio), smoking status, Blood Sugar and Total Cholesterol
- Early Bird Discount - The Insurer offers this discount if your entry age is less than 35 years (5% discount from the 4th year to the 7th year and 10% discount from the 8th year onwards).
- Upfront Good Health Discount - Up to 10% of first-time premiums, If you opt for the Health Risk Assessment
As you can see, there are multiple discounts in case the insurer’s Health Assessment finds you healthy. Thus, the earlier you opt for this policy, the healthier you are, and the more the discounts you receive on your premiums.
What’s Unique with Aditya Birla Activ Fit Health Insurance Plan?
The plan has a host of discounts, based on your state of health, mode of purchase, fitness steps, etc. Moreover, this policy’s set of add-ons like travel protection, EMI protection, Waiver of premiums, etc. is a unique addition when it comes to health insurance.
Conclusion
The Activ Fit health insurance policy is a good pick from the stable of Aditya Birla. While the plan surely has a lot more to offer to young adults as compared to any other age slab, the policy’s extensive waiting period for those with pre-existing conditions, its limited insurance track record and complaint volume are solid some things that you definitely need to consider before buying the policy.