Care Health Insurance Instant Cover and Instant Cover Plus

If you suffer from high blood pressure or diabetes, most policies in India come with a waiting period. They usually ask you to wait for up to 3 years before paying a claim related to your pre-existing conditions. This means if you get hospitalized due to a PED-related complication during this time, you will have to pay out of pocket.

This is where add-ons that reduce these waiting periods come into play. Care Health Insurance Instant Cover and Instant Cover Plus add-ons reduce the waiting period to just 30 days for select conditions.

In this guide, we break down what these add-ons are, what diseases they cover, and whether they are worth the extra premium.

What Are Instant Cover and Instant Cover Plus in Care Health Insurance?

Instant Cover

Instant Cover in Care Health Insurance is a specialized optional benefit that reduces the waiting period for common lifestyle conditions. With the Instant Cover add-on, Care waives the PED waiting period from 3 years to just 30 days.

Instant Cover Plus

Instant Cover Plus is the broader variant of this add-on. It does the same thing, lowering the waiting period to 30 days, but it extends this benefit to three additional conditions.

Note: These add-ons can only be selected when you’re buying your first policy (or porting to a new one). You can also choose to discontinue the add-on after completing 3 years (the original waiting period you would have served).

Which Pre-Existing Diseases Care Instant Cover Covers, and From When?

For Care Supreme Plan

1) Instant Cover

• Diabetes (type 2 oral medications)
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol)
• Asthma

2) Instant Cover Plus

Covers 7 chronic conditions in total. It includes the core 4 conditions listed above plus 3 more:

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Obesity
• Coronary Artery Disease (specifically where a Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA) procedure was performed more than one year prior)

For Ultimate Care Plan

There is no "plus" variant here because the standard add-on is already broader:

Instant Cover

Covers 7 chronic conditions:

• Diabetes (type 2 oral medications)
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol)
• Asthma
• Obesity
• Coronary Artery Disease (specifically where a PTCA procedure was performed more than one year prior)
• Hypothyroidism 

Note: COPD is not covered under this list.

Note: You can choose either Instant Cover or Instant Cover Plus add-on, but not both.

The premiums are illustrative and calculated for adults living in Delhi (pincode: 110010) for a 1-year tenure. Your final premium will depend on your age, city, medical history, cover amount, discounts, and the add-ons you choose.

Care Health Plans Offering Instant Cover vs. the PED Waiting Period Modification Add-On

• Instant Cover / Instant Cover Plus: Reduces the waiting period down to 30 days, but only for the specific diseases listed above.
• PED Waiting Period Modification: Reduces the waiting period for all declared and accepted pre-existing diseases from 3 years to a shorter period (1 or 2 years). If the condition is also classified as a specific illness, the waiting period still applies separately and can be reduced to only 2 years.

In both Care Supreme and Ultimate Care plans, you can only choose one out of these three add-ons. 

Note: Care has also launched a senior-focused plan, based on this benefit. You can check out the details of Instant Cover Plus in Ultimate Care Senior to see how senior insured members can reduce their chronic illness waiting period.

Note: This information is sourced from the IRDAI annual reports and Care Health’s public disclosures. To explore more such data, please refer to Ditto Data Lab. These metrics reflect the insurer’s overall health portfolio, not just these specific riders.

Pros & Cons of Care Health Insurance Instant Cover and Instant Cover Plus

Pros:

• Reduces wait times from 3 years to just 30 days for common and chronic conditions.
• Lets you choose between a 4-disease cover or an expanded 7-disease cover depending on your health profile.
• Base plans don't have separate loadings for PEDs, so the add-on cost is the only extra premium you pay for immediate PED coverage.
• You only have to pay the extra premium for the add-on for the first 3 years, unlike similar add-ons offered by other insurers, where you have to pay for such add-ons for the entire policy lifetime.

Cons:

• Only covers the specific listed conditions. If you have hypothyroidism under Care Supreme or COPD under Care Ultimate, you won't get 30-day coverage.
• You can only opt for it when you are buying a policy for the first time. You cannot add it later during renewals.
• You can choose only one of the 3 add-ons available.

Why Choose Ditto for Health Insurance?

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Confused about the right insurance? Speak to Ditto’s certified advisors for free, unbiased guidance. Book your call now or chat with us on WhatsApp. 

Conclusion

If you’re looking for health insurance and already have some pre-existing conditions, Care Health gives you a few ways to shorten waiting periods, but the right choice depends on your condition.

• Go for Instant Cover if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or asthma.
• Choose Ultimate Care’s Instant Cover if you have hypothyroidism or had a PTCA over a year ago.
• Consider Care Supreme’s Instant Cover Plus if you have conditions like COPD, obesity, or if you had a PTCA more than a year ago.

If your PED does not fall under the list above, the PED Waiting Period Modification add-on is usually the safer pick. It won’t give you coverage starting on day 31, but it can reduce your waiting period from 3 years to 1 or 2 years, which is a meaningful reduction.

Before deciding, make sure you honestly declare all your pre-existing conditions, that the underwriter approves the add-on, and that your policy clearly states the start date.