{"id":14133,"date":"2026-05-27T07:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/glossary\/health-insurance\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T07:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:38:08","slug":"health-insurance","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/glossary\/health-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Health insurance<\/a> is a policy that pays for medical expenses<\/a> when you are hospitalised or undergo a medical procedure. In exchange for a regular premium<\/a>, the insurer covers the cost of hospitalisation, surgery, diagnostic tests, ICU charges, and related medical costs. Health insurance protects you from sudden and significant medical bills that could otherwise drain your savings.<\/p>\n

What Is Health Insurance?<\/h2>\n

Health insurance (also called medical insurance) reduces the financial burden of medical treatment. When you or a covered family member is hospitalised, the insurance company either pays the hospital directly (cashless claim) or reimburses you after you pay the bills (reimbursement claim).<\/p>\n

Health insurance can be purchased for yourself alone or as a family floater policy that covers your entire family under a single sum insured.<\/p>\n

What Does Health Insurance Cover?<\/h2>\n

A standard health insurance policy in India covers:<\/p>\n

– Inpatient hospitalisation (minimum 24 hours)
\n– Pre-hospitalisation expense<\/a>s (usually 30 to 60 days before admission)
\n– Post-hospitalisation expenses (usually 60 to 90 days after discharge)
\n– Daycare procedures that require less than 24 hours (cataract surgery, dialysis, chemotherapy, etc.)
\n– ICU and room rent charges (subject to room rent limits)
\n– Ambulance charges<\/p>\n

Modern comprehensive policies also cover:<\/p>\n

– Outpatient (OPD) consultations
\n– Mental health treatment
\n– Maternity and newborn care
\n– Annual health check-ups<\/p>\n

Types of Health Insurance<\/h2>\n

– **Individual health insurance** – covers a single person
\n– **Family floater** – covers the entire family under one sum insured
\n– **Senior citizen health insurance<\/a>** – designed for those above 60; higher premiums due to age-related risks
\n– **Critical illness plan** – pays a lump sum<\/a> on diagnosis of serious illnesses like cancer, heart attack, or stroke
\n– **Top-up plan** – kicks in after a deductible is exhausted; cost-effective way to increase coverage<\/p>\n

Tax<\/a> Benefits<\/h2>\n

Under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act<\/a>:<\/p>\n

– Premium paid for self and family: deduction up to Rs 25,000 per year
\n– Additional Rs 25,000 deduction for premium paid for parents (Rs 50,000 if parents are senior citizens)
\n– Total maximum deduction: Rs 75,000 if you cover yourself, your family, and senior citizen parents<\/p>\n

Practical Example<\/h2>\n

The Sharma family has a family floater health plan<\/a> of Rs 10 lakh. When Mr Sharma is hospitalised for a kidney procedure costing Rs 3.2 lakh, the insurer pays directly to the hospital through the cashless claim process. The family pays nothing out of pocket. The annual premium for the Rs 10 lakh cover is approximately Rs 18,000 to Rs 22,000 for a family of four.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n

– Health insurance covers hospitalisation and related medical expenses in exchange for regular premiums
\n– A family floater policy covers all family members under one sum insured at lower cost
\n– Cashless claims are available at network hospitals; reimbursement is available at all hospitals
\n– Premium paid qualifies for Section 80D deduction up to Rs 75,000 for self, family, and senior citizen parents
\n– Buy health insurance early when premiums are lower and no pre-existing conditions exist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Health insurance is a policy that pays for medical expenses when you are hospitalised or undergo a medical procedure. In exchange for a regular premium, the insurer covers the cost of hospitalisation, surgery, diagnostic tests, ICU charges, and related medical costs. Health insurance protects you from sudden and significant medical bills that could otherwise drain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14133","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"web-stories-poster-portrait":false,"web-stories-publisher-logo":false,"web-stories-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Team Lemonn","author_link":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/author\/ashu\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Health insurance is a policy that pays for medical expenses when you are hospitalised or undergo a medical procedure. In exchange for a regular premium, the insurer covers the cost of hospitalisation, surgery, diagnostic tests, ICU charges, and related medical costs. Health insurance protects you from sudden and significant medical bills that could otherwise drain…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/14133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/14133\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}