When you seek a health insurance policy, one of the primary things you prioritise is that it is comprehensive. A policy that offers adequate coverage with maximum in-built perks and minimum restrictions. Star Assure Health Insurance Plan is an effort towards this combination of benefits. This policy is widely known for its diverse features, coverage for Assisted Reproduction Treatment, non-medical items, rehabilitation and pain management coverage, and more. On pen and paper, the plan is comprehensive.
However, coming to the insurer in question - Star Health Insurance, despite its long-standing insurance track record and a vast net client pool, there are still some significant hurdles that it needs to overcome to become a credible provider in the industry. Some of the most common issues with the provider include - extremely high complaint volume, plans with room rent restrictions, expensive policies, sudden discontinuation of popular plans, rejection of valid claims, delisting network hospitals, and more.
We are here to find out if, despite all these shortcomings of the health insurance provider, the Star Assure Health Insurance Plan is still worth a shot. Let’s explore!
Quick Verdict on Star Assure Health Insurance Plan
Star Assure Health Insurance policy is a good plan with a few caveats involved across restrictions, clauses, and terms and conditions. The insurer’s reputation also doesn’t do much justice for policyholders looking to purchase the plan.
However, suppose you are looking for a policy that concentrates on Assisted Reproductive treatment coverage, newborn treatment coverage, in-utero fetal surgery and intervention coverage. In that case, this is a unique plan that offers these features.
Otherwise, you can shop around for other policies from credible insurers.
Star Assure Health Insurance Plan: Brief Overview
Star Health Insurance is one of the oldest standalone health insurers in the country. The provider once held a monopoly in the industry due to its diverse portfolio of health insurance products and sizeable client pool (owing to its network of physical agents selling products in the market).
However, Star's popularity took a hit as more players surfaced with the digital purchase of health insurance policies. Much of this can be attributed to Star’s latest issues across lost credibility over discontinued plans, delisting partner hospitals, rejecting claims, and withdrawing crucial disease-specific (cancer) health insurance plans. The metrics for the insurer reflect this drop in overall performance:
- Claim Settlement Ratio (CSR) of 82.01% (the industry average is 90.97%; the higher, the better, but not above 100%)
- Incurred Claim Ratio (ICR) of 82.17% (the industry average is 82.96%; an ideal range would be somewhere between 50-70%)
- Complaint Volume of 29.04 (the industry average is 24.029; the lower, the better)
Star Assure from the insurer’s stable is a decent plan with a few drawbacks. The coverage is adequate, ranging from ₹5 lakhs to ₹2 crores and can be availed of as an Individual plan or on a family floater basis. For the Individual policy, anyone aged between 91 days and 75 years can opt for the plan. On the other hand, in the case of the family floater policy, the policyholder can be aged between 18 and 75 years for adults and 16 days to 17 years for dependent children. While the plan covers most grounds with the basic list of features, most come with restrictions and cappings. For example, the room rent restrictions vary based on the insured sum, but if you have opted for a cover less than ₹50 lakhs, you have to expect a room rent/type restriction.
However, the plan also offers unique features like Repatriation of Mortal Remains, Compassionate Travel, In-Utero Fetal Surgery / Intervention, and coverage for expenses incurred in Rehabilitation & Pain Management.
While the features discussed for the Star Assure health insurance policy are a consideration that you should make, if you are finalising a product that would serve as your financial protection tool during health scares, you need to prioritise the insurer you choose. Is Star Health credible enough to serve your purpose?
Features of Star Assure Health Insurance Plan
| FEATURES | DETAILS |
|---|---|
| Coverage | ₹5 lakhs to ₹2 crores |
| Copayment | 10% (if your entry age is 61 years or above) |
| Room rent restrictions | Yes, if your cover amount is less than ₹50 lakhs |
| Affordability of premiums | Decent |
| Waiting period |
|
| Domiciliary coverage | Yes |
| Pre & Post Hospitalisation | 60 and 180 days |
Should You Buy a Star Assure Health Insurance Plan?
- Star as an insurer: Start Health was a popular provider across health insurance. However, the recent issues with its overall performance, delisting of partner hospitals, withdrawal of policies, and rejection of valid claims have affected its credibility. Moreover, some of the health insurance plans offered by this insurer are not comprehensive and yet expensive.
Going for Star as your health insurer is a good move if you opt for Cancer-specific plans. Otherwise, shopping for a few insurers and comparing plans with free tools would be better before purchasing a health insurance policy.
2. In-Built Features: Star Assure health insurance has a basic feature structure covering most bases. The plan offers automatic restoration for an unlimited number of times, coverage for non-medical items, and wellness discounts of up to 20% during renewal - among other perks. However, the plan comes with multiple caveats, making us hesitant to recommend the plan.
Here’s a look at some of the most important features of the Star Assure health insurance policy -
- Room rent restrictions: Much like any other Star health insurance plan, with Star Assure, room rent/type restrictions exist, and the cappings are based on your chosen insured sum.
| Cover Amount | Room Rent/Type Restrictions |
|---|---|
| ₹5 lakhs | 1% of the Sum Insured per day |
| ₹10 lakhs - ₹25 lakhs | Any room (except suite or above category) |
| ₹50 lakhs and above | No room rent restrictions |
This is a major drawback considering, unless you opt for a family floater plan (even then, it’s rare), you won’t want to avail a cover of ₹50 lakhs and above. Thus, you are looking at a room rent restriction that might result in you shelling out a significant amount from your pocket.
- Coverage offered: The cover for Star Assure health insurance plan ranges from ₹5 lakhs to ₹2 crores. The coverage is adequate, considering medical inflation and any sudden requirement for specialised treatments. However, the premiums may be a bit pricier than you would like. Moreover, with the room rent restriction in place, despite paying the high premium, you will still need to invest from your savings.
- Co-payment: The plan generally doesn’t require you to split the hospital bills. However, if your entry age to the policy is 61 years or above, you must pay a 10% copayment on the bill. This is reasonable, considering a majority of the plans in the market have similar terms and conditions.
- Unique features: Star Assure health insurance policy might be recommended if you seek plans focusing on coverage for delivery expenses, Assisted Reproduction Treatment (for sub-fertility), and treatment of newborn babies. However, each of these comes with a disease-wise sub-limit. Apart from this, there are a few other features that stand out in this plan -
- Repatriation of Mortal Remains: The insurer will pay up to ₹15,000 towards embalming remains or coffin charges. This coverage is available only on a reimbursement basis.
- Compassionate Travel: If you (the policyholder) are stuck with a medical emergency at a location that is away from your residence, the insurer reimburses up to ₹10,000 as air travel expenses for one immediate family member to travel to the place where you have been hospitalised.
- In-Utero Fetal Surgery and Intervention: Following a waiting period of 2 years, the insurer will pay the charges incurred during In-Utero Fetal Surgery and Intervention.
- Assisted Reproduction Treatment: In case of any sub-fertility treatments, i.e., Assisted Reproduction Treatment, the insurer offers coverage up to a specific limit based on the chosen sum insured:
| Sum Insured | Assisted Reproduction Treatment Coverage |
|---|---|
| ₹5 lakhs | ₹1 lakh |
| ₹10 lakhs - ₹25 lakhs | ₹2 lakhs |
| ₹50 lakhs and above | ₹4 lakhs |
(There is a 2-year waiting period on this perk.)
- Newborn baby treatment: If the newborn is diagnosed with congenital disorders or accidental injuries, the insurer offers coverage for the treatment up to a limit. The waiting period for this perk is 1 year, and the sub-limit varies based on the cover amount -
| Sum Insured | Newborn Baby Treatment Coverage |
|---|---|
| ₹5 lakhs - ₹25 lakhs | ₹2 lakhs |
| ₹50 lakhs and above | ₹4 lakhs |
What’s Unique about the Star Assure Health Insurance Plan?
The Star Assure health insurance policy has many unique features like Assisted Reproduction Treatment (for sub-fertility), treatment of newborn babies, Repatriation of Mortal Remains, Compassionate Travel, and In-Utero Fetal Surgery and Intervention. However, the capping on these features, the long waiting period for pre-existing diseases, and the insurer's reputation prove to be hurdles in the recommendation for the plan.
Conclusion
Star Assure health insurance plan, much like any other policy from the stable of Star Health, is averagely comprehensive with multiple restrictions. The plan has too many sub-limits for our preference and recommendation. However, suppose you already have a strong relationship with the brand. The plan can be a decent pick in that case, provided you are looking for features like in-utero fetal surgery and newborn treatments.