Health insurance has become a non-negotiable necessity today. But, finding an affordable health insurance policy that offers comprehensive coverage without compromising your finances is also important.
In this article, we have rounded up 5 affordable health insurance plans in India for 2025, designed to cater to your healthcare needs while keeping the premiums pocket-friendly.
Affordable Health Insurance Plans in India 2025: Comparison
When it comes to health insurance, affordability is often the first thing people look for; but the cheapest plan isn’t always the best choice. A slightly higher premium can mean better coverage, smoother claim settlement, wider hospital coverage for cashless claims, and stronger long-term benefits, factors that matter in the long run.
With that in mind, we’ve compared the leading policies across premium, coverage, claim ratios, and unique features to identify the 5 affordable health insurance plans in India 2025. These plans have consistently performed well, staying at par or above the industry average across crucial health insurance metrics. Makes them both reliable and cost-effective choices.
Not sure which riders you actually need? Talk to Ditto’s expert advisors today and get unbiased, personalised guidance - absolutely free.
| Before we discuss the list, here’s how we decide what plans to feature. At Ditto, every health plan goes through our six-point evaluation framework. It doesn’t mean these are the only good plans, but that they stand out after being scored across all six pillars. You can learn more about how we evaluate health insurance plans here. |
Table: Comprehensive Premium Comparison
| Plan / Insurer | Individual (25 yrs) | Family of Two (35+32 yrs) | Family of Four (40+38+7+3 yrs) | Senior Couple (62+58 yrs) | Network / CSR / ICR (Averaged over FY 2021-24) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Care Supreme | ₹19,976 | ₹25,832 | ₹42,726 | ₹94,542 | 11.4k+ hospitals / CSR 90% / ICR 59% |
| Aditya Birla Activ One Max | ₹11,975 | ₹19,232 | ₹35,705 | ₹78,476 | 12k+ hospitals / CSR 95% / ICR 68% |
| Niva Bupa Reassure 2.0 Titanium+ | ₹15,782 | ₹26,856 | ₹41,441 | ₹95,483 | 10k+ hospitals / CSR 91% / ICR 58% |
| ICICI Lombard Elevate | ₹14,802 | ₹22,188 | ₹38,058 | ₹87,945 | 10.2k+ hospitals / CSR 85% / ICR 83% |
| Acko Standard | ₹10,082 | ₹17,038 | ₹26,578 | ₹57,787 | 10+k hospitals/ CSR 96%/ ICR 82% |
Note: Premiums are indicative, based on New Delhi. For all plans except the Acko Standard plan, we have considered a ₹15 lakh sum insured. For Acko, we used ₹25 lakhs as that was the only sum insured consistently available across age groups and categories.
All plans are compared assuming no pre-existing conditions and with essential add-ons included.
Key Insight: Aditya Birla Activ One Max and Acko Standard Health Plan stand out as the most affordable across all categories. Acko offers low premiums for senior citizens while maintaining strong performance metrics. Care Supreme and Niva bupa are priced higher especially for families and seniors. ICICI Elevate sits in the mid range.
5 Affordable Health Insurance Plans in India (2025) That Make Ditto’s Cut
Here’s a quick overview of the five affordable health insurance plans in India we compared above:
- Care Supreme: Care Supreme is a flexible and affordable family health plan because the base cover is lean and simple, focusing on essentials like no room rent capping and unlimited restoration.
Many valuable benefits such as reduced waiting periods for pre-existing or lifestyle conditions, consumables coverage (Claim Shield), unlimited coverage for a single major claim, or infinite no-claim bonus (CB Booster) are offered as riders rather than bundled in. This approach keeps the entry premium lower, while allowing families to customize and pay extra only for the features they actually need.
- Aditya Birla Activ One Max : Aditya Birla’s Activ One MAX is a wellness-focused health insurance plan that goes beyond standard hospitalization cover. Its standout HealthReturns program rewards healthy habits by offering up to 100% of premiums back, while the Unlimited Restoration of Sum Insured ensures uninterrupted coverage even after exhausting the base sum insured.
It also provides a loyalty/renewal bonus of up to 500% of the base cover, making it highly rewarding in the long run. Coverage extends up to ₹6 crore, ensuring financial security for high medical expenses.
- Niva Bupa ReAssure 2.0 Titanium+: This plan offers extensive coverage with a sum insured of up to ₹1 crore, featuring unique benefits like ReAssure Forever (unlimited reinstatement of cover) and Booster+ (carry forward unused cover up to 10 times the base sum insured).
It comes with no co-payment, no disease sub-limits, and no room rent restrictions. The plan covers pre- and post-hospitalization expenses for 60 and 180 days respectively, day care treatments, modern procedures such as robotic surgeries, and annual health check-ups from day one. Other advantages include unlimited restoration of cover and a healthy bonus that adds unutilized cover to the next year.
- ICICI Elevate: ICICI Lombard Elevate is a highly flexible health insurance plan with coverage ranging from ₹5 lakhs to unlimited sum insured. It comes with strong features like unlimited restoration, 20% cumulative bonus each year (up to 100%), and wellness benefits offering up to 30% premium discounts.
It also has add-ons that provide powerful upgrades such as Infinite Care (unlimited lifetime cover for one major claim), Jumpstart (reducing PED waiting for lifestyle ailments to 30 days), Claim Protector (covering non-medical consumables), and options to cut waiting periods for PEDs and specific illnesses.
- Acko Standard: The ACKO Standard Health Plan offers broad coverage with zero deductions on claims, no co-pay, and no room rent capping. It covers hospitalization, daycare, ambulance services, AYUSH treatments, domiciliary care, organ donor expenses, and even non-medical consumables, along with unlimited restoration of the sum insured and free annual health checkups.
With coverage options up to ₹1 crore and faster claim settlement, it ensures robust protection at affordable premiums due to its direct-to-customer model (no commission). Add-ons like non-medical expenses, doctor-on-call, and room rent waiver come in-built, making it more convenient than many peers.
Now that we’ve covered the affordable health insurance plans in India, it’s important to remember that each plan comes with its own features, advantages, and limitations. To make the most of your policy, you should know what to look for and how to evaluate it. If you’d like a deeper guide on this, check out our detailed article on how to choose the right health insurance plan.
With that in mind, let’s move on to some practical strategies that can help you reduce your health insurance premiums without compromising on coverage.
Ways to Reduce Your Premium on Affordable Health Insurance Plans in India
If you find your health insurance premium on affordable health insurance plans to be high, consider these effective strategies to lower it:
- Buy Early for Lower Premiums: Purchasing affordable health insurance plans when you are young and healthy can significantly reduce your premiums by avoiding loading charges. Starting early also helps you complete waiting periods sooner, benefiting your long-term coverage.
- Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle: Many insurance providers reward healthier lifestyles with lower premiums or wellness incentives. By staying active, avoiding smoking, and maintaining a healthy BMI, you can enhance your eligibility for affordable health insurance plans in India.
- Use Super Top-Up Policies: Combining a base affordable health insurance plan in India with a top-up or super top-up plan can be more cost-effective than opting for very high coverage in a single policy. These plans start paying after a deductible, which helps lower overall premiums.
- Opt for Multi-Pay Options: Some insurers let you pre-pay premiums for 2–5 years, locking in current rates and shielding you from medical inflation. HDFC Optima Secure plan offers a 7.5% discount on the premium for a 2-year policy and a 10% discount for a 3-year policy.
For those exploring affordable health insurance plans in India, this is a smart way to control long-term costs while ensuring steady coverage.
- Benefit from No-Claim Bonuses: One of the most effective ways to make affordable health insurance plans in India even more cost-efficient is by leveraging the No-Claim Bonus (NCB) or renewal bonus offered by insurers.
When you don’t file a claim during the policy year, insurers reward you by either increasing your sum insured (cumulative bonus) or reducing your premium at renewal (discount on premium). This provides long-term value without additional costs. A discount on premium reduces the amount you pay at renewal, whereas a cumulative bonus keeps your premium as per the same Sum Insured but increases your sum insured.
Examples:
HDFC ERGO Optima Secure offers 2X coverage from day one, doubling your base sum insured instantly. Additionally, it provides a 50% increase in the sum insured after one year and 100% after two years, regardless of claims made. This boosts your coverage significantly without increasing your premium. (refer to the policy wording)
Aditya Birla Activ One Max grants a 100% bonus every year, cumulatively up to 500%, even if you make claims, ensuring sustained coverage growth.
Niva Bupa Aspire Titanium+ features "Booster+", where unused cover is carried forward, multiplying your coverage up to 10 times the sum insured over time.
- Choose Family Floater Plans: For insuring multiple family members, affordable health insurance plans in India that offer family floater options can be less expensive than separate policies. However, the sum insured is shared among all members, which is an important consideration.
- Voluntary Co-Pay and Deductibles: Some insurers let you choose voluntary cost-sharing options such as co-pay or deductibles, which can lower your premium. However, we do not recommend this in most cases, because the co-pay percentage is fixed.
It means no matter what the hospital bill is, you must pay that share each time. This makes your out-of-pocket expense uncertain and can defeat the very purpose of health insurance, which is to protect you financially during vulnerable times.
Important Note: We know that most people focus primarily on premium costs when choosing affordable health insurance plans in India. But price alone shouldn’t drive your decision. A truly reliable policy should balance comprehensive coverage, insurer performance, and long-term value.
Low-cost plans may seem attractive at first but often come with trade-offs such as restricted sum insured, treatment sub-limits, co-payments, and no restoration benefits. They may also hide extra expenses through deductibles, non-covered consumables, or a limited hospital network, which can significantly increase out-of-pocket costs at the time of a claim.
Again, cheaper policies often provide fewer add-ons and wellness benefits, meaning you may miss out on valuable features like annual health check-ups, cumulative bonus, or active lifestyle-based rewards. Plus, with medical costs rising every year, what feels like enough cover today might fall short tomorrow.
Lastly, it’s essential to consider the insurer’s claim settlement ratio (CSR), incurred claim ratio (ICR), complaint record, post sales support and claims experience.
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Conclusion
The right health insurance plan should balance your health needs and budget. The options above highlight some of the most affordable health insurance plans in India, offering comprehensive coverage across individual, family floater, and senior citizen categories without straining your finances.
That said, policies can be complex. If you’d like personalized recommendations and expert guidance, Ditto’s IRDAI-certified advisors are just a call away. So, book a free consultation today.
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