Introduction
Over the last few years, the medical world has witnessed considerable technological advancements, state-of-the-art equipment, and treatment processes. However, such furtherance came at a high cost and required patients to invest significantly to avail of such premium treatment services.
Such high-end healthcare procedures beckon the possibilities that your current insurance coverage might fall short in funding your treatments and hospitalization invoices. Under such circumstances, you will look forward to extending your insurance funding bandwidth.
The 2 most common options include requesting your insurer to stretch your current fund and purchasing a second insurance policy. Unfortunately, unlike what your insurance provider tells you, these options squeeze your budget and savings significantly. When looking for a better option, you stumble upon a premium choice - Super Top-Up Plans (Top-Ups used to be an option too, but considering its long queue of exceptions, this is on its way out of the market). Such plans are targeted at boosting your coverage over nominal premiums.
In this blog, we will describe the top 5 Super Top-Up plans across India in 2023 after a quick overview of what Super Top-Up plans are.
What are Super Top-Up Plans?
When the existing funding in your Health insurance policy falls short of meeting your medical bills, you will need to dip into your savings. After all, you wouldn’t want to compromise on the quality of treatment you receive.
Considering such chances, insurance providers have brought Super Top-Up plans that offer a significantly high extension on the existing coverage.
However, there is a catch - insurance providers are smart!
They offer you high coverage with a low premium. But how do they safeguard their payouts to protect their profitability? They introduce deductibles - a threshold amount that needs to be paid off by the policyholder via either their base insurance policy or out of their pocket.
Only when this deductible (you can know more about the pros and cons of Deductibles from our blog - [subtext: link to our Deductible in Health Insurance blog]) is paid off the Super Top-Up plan, get activated, and the insured individual can now access the extensive fund. Now, deductibles for most plans are Voluntary; that is, policyholders can choose the deductible amount (low deductible = more premium, and vice versa).
With the best Super Top-Up plans from the leading health insurance providers across India (take a look at our preferred Top 5 insurers - [subtext: link to best health insurance providers blogs]), you have a wide range of choices in deductibles and their subsequent sum insured.
| The 5 Best Super Top-Up Plans | Options Available | |
|---|---|---|
| Deductibles | Sum Insured | |
| HDFC Ergo myHealth Medisure Super Top-up | INR 4 - 5 lakhs | INR 5 - 20 lakhs |
| NIVA BUPA (MAX BUPA) Health Recharge Super Top-up | INR 3 - 10 lakhs | INR 40 - 90 lakhs |
| ICICI Lombard Health Booster Super Top-up | INR 3 - 5 lakhs | INR 3 - 20 lakhs |
| Care Enhance Super Top-up | PLAN 1: INR 1 - 10 lakhs | PLAN 1: Up to INR 30 lakhs |
| PLAN 2: INR 5 - 20 lakhs | PLAN 2: Up to INR 55 lakhs | |
| BAJAJ ALLIANZ Extra Care Plus Super Top-up | INR 3 - 10 lakhs | INR 3 - 50 lakhs |
Well, these are just numbers that throw some light as to why we have chosen these plans as our Top 5. However, to make an informed decision about which plan you should opt for, you need more information on them.
What are the Best Super Top-Up Plans for Health Insurance?
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No disease-wise sub-limits unless the insurer explicitly mentions that they won’t cover any illness No cap on room type, so you don’t have to worry about which rooms are available. No copayment unless you have availed of this plan after turning 80 (in which case you have to pay 10% of the expenses) Pre and post-hospitalization coverage for 30 and 60 days, respectively, and this also includes medication charges. Daycare treatment coverage is offered. However, make sure to ask the provider about the types of treatments that they are willing to cover under this policy. A modest waiting period of 3 years only for specific pre-existing ailments. |
Lower coverage extends only up to INR 20 lakhs, which is comparatively low considering Super Top-Up plans are supposed to offer a significant coverage bandwidth. No No-Claim Bonus (NCB) No restoration privileges No free health check-ups with this plan. No AYUSH coverage |
2. NIVA BUPA (MAX BUPA) Health Recharge Super Top-up
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Most economical plan considering that it offers a generous coverage of up to INR 95 lakhs No copayment is required, irrespective of the billed amount and the age at which you avail of this plan. Modest capping on room type that puts its foot down only if you are seeking too fancy a room (they offer complete coverage even if you opt for a single private hospital room). Pre and post-hospitalization expense coverage for 60 and 90 days, respectively, as well as the costs of medication. Daycare treatment coverage for cases that require less than 24 hours of hospitalization. Remember to ask your insurer about the inclusions and exclusions. Some coverage for AYUSH treatments A reasonable waiting period of 3 years on certain pre-existing conditions. |
There are some sub-limits on specific treatments. Nominal No-Claim Benefits that extend only from 5% to a maximum of 25%. No restoration benefit No free health check-ups |
3. ICICI Lombard Health Booster Super Top-up
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Generous coverage of up to INR 50 lakhs. No cap on room rent and type No disease-wise sub-limits A low waiting period of 2 years on pre-existing ailments. Pre and post-hospitalization coverage for 60 and 90 days, respectively, with funding for medications too. Restoration benefits are available up to a maximum of 100% when the deductible is equal to or greater than INR 3 lakhs. Free health check-ups Daycare treatment coverage AYUSH treatment coverages |
ICICI’s poor Claim Settlement Ratio explains why this plan offers some exclusive features and perks that are impossible for other policies. The chances of copayment are higher. If you purchase this plan after turning 61, you are to pay 20% of the billed amount. Minimum No-Claim Bonus that starts at 10% and can go up to a maximum of 50%. |
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Modest capping on room type that does not offer coverage for too fancy rooms. No disease-wise sub-limits Pre and post-hospitalization expense coverage for 30 and 60 days, respectively as well as funding for medicines. Daycare treatment coverage is available. Free health check-ups |
Low coverage of only INR 30 lakhs (which defeats the purpose of availing of a Super top-Up plan). Higher chances of copayment since if you have availed of this plan after turning 61, you will have to pay 20% of the expenses incurred. Long waiting period for pre-existing conditions that extends up to 4 years. No restoration benefits No No-Claim Bonus No AYUSH treatment coverage |
5. BAJAJ ALLIANZ Extra Care Plus Super Top-up
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Ample coverage of up to INR 50 lakhs. Maternity Benefits offered No co-payment required No caps on room rent and room type. Extremely short waiting period for pre-existing ailments of 1 year only. Coverage for pre and post-hospitalization expenses for 60 and 90 days, respectively, along with medicine invoices as well. Daycare treatment coverage Free health check-ups |
There are some sub-limits on certain treatments of 50% up to INR 5 lakhs of the sum insured. No restoration benefits are offered. No No-Claim Bonus No AYUSH treatment coverage is offered. |
Considering now you are well aware of the pros and cons of each of our top 5 Super Top-Up plans, you can now opt for a plan that best caters to your interests.
However, it is always advisable to reach out to an unbiased insurance advisor and clear up your customized queries before availing of any policy.
You can also go ahead to our Health comparison tool to check out each plan as per the most important parameter for you.
Why Should You Opt for Super Top-Up Plans?
Pros of Super Top-Up
- High coverage bandwidth over economical premium.
- Single payment of deductible despite multiple hospitalizations across a year.
- Ensures access to premium healthcare treatment options.
Cons of Super Top-Up
- Most plans do not offer restoration benefits.
- Strict underwritings considering the high coverage offered over low premium.
- Hiked premiums in case a policyholder opts for a lower deductible.
- No-Claim Bonuses are rare with this policy, irrespective of the plan chosen.
| Ditto’s Suggestion: As per our experts, Super Top-Ups are a great financial backup if you anticipate multiple hospitalizations. However, if you are opting for this policy, make sure that you avail of this - On top of your existing base health insurance policy. This safeguards you from paying the deductible out of your own pocket. From the same insurer as that of your base plan. This eradicates the need for additional documentation and a waiting period to access your Super Top-Up funds. |
Please head over to our blog on Top-Ups and Super Top-Ups in Health Insurance to know more about this.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How is a Super Top-Up plan different from a Top-Up plan?
The main difference in top-up and Super top-up is that top-up kicks in after deductible for each hospitalization, whereas super topup gets active as soon as the cumulative deductible is reached for the policy.
| Super Top-Up | Top-Up |
|---|---|
| Deductible needs to be paid off only once across a year, irrespective of the frequency of hospitalization. | Deductible needs to be paid off for each hospitalization. |
| The deductible paid can be done cumulatively over multiple hospitalizations. | The deductive paid has to be paid off in whole for each hospitalization case. |
For a better understanding of the difference between the two plans with real-time examples, please head over to our article on top-up & super top-up.
2. How does super top-up health insurance boost my sum insured?
A super top-up fund is a ‘cherry-on-your-cake’ type of financial aid. It is meant to increase the current bandwidth of your current insurance coverage. Let’s take an example to understand this better -
Say you have a health insurance plan of 20 lakhs, but now you want to increase your coverage. The affordable option would be to opt for a Super Top-Up Plan. Let’s say your Super Top-Up offers a coverage of 40 lakhs. So, now, your available coverage goes up to 60 lakhs.
However, there is another way in which super top-up boosts your sum insured. Say your current plan offers very low coverage for certain ailments. Now, with a suitable insurer, your super top-up can offer you additional coverage for that specific disease. This, in turn, also boosts your coverage.
3. What should I opt for: a top-up or a super top-up plan?
A super top-up plan is a more affordable option to boost your coverage bandwidth, as compared to top-up plans.
#REASON 1: With the former, you are to pay the deductible only once a year, irrespective of the number of times you are hospitalized. With top-ups, the deductible has to be paid each time you are hospitalized to activate the policy and the fund.
YOUR BENEFIT: Significant savings over a reduced number of deductibles to be paid off.
#REASON 2: For Super Top-Ups, if the deductible to be paid off is INR 10 lakhs, you can split the deductible and pay it off over multiple hospitalizations. For Top-Ups, the whole deductible has to be paid, each time.
YOUR BENEFIT: Easy-to-meet deductibles via either your base cover (in case there is an existing insurance plan in play) or out of your pocket (in case you do not have base insurance yet).
4. Why is a super top-up health insurance plan cheaper?
There is less chance of you using the super top up as the base plan generally covers majority of the claims. Therefore Insurance companies have priced them aggressively, making it extremely affordable for normal users.
5. Should I choose a higher deductible on my super top-up plan?
With a higher deductible comes a lower premium, and with a lower deductible comes a higher premium.
So, whether you should opt for a higher deductible or not completely depends on two factors -
- Your current financial stability and your ability to pay off a higher deductible during hospitalization.
- If you have a base health insurance policy (individual/group/corporate) and your base health insurance coverage (ideally, the base coverage should be equal to or more than the deductible charged for the super top-up plan).