Health Insurance Companies in India (2026)

India has two types of companies that sell health insurance. Standalone health insurers (8 of them) sell only health cover and are licensed by IRDAI, India’s insurance regulator. The newest, Prudential HCL Health Insurance, got its licence on June 29, 2026. General insurance companies (26 of them) sell health cover alongside other types like car or home insurance. Together, that’s 34 companies you can buy health insurance from in 2026

Key Facts

Standalone health insurers	8
General insurers also selling health	26
Total companies offering health cover	~34
Newest standalone entrant	Prudential HCL Health Insurance (2026)
Metric used	Incurred claim ratio, not claim settlement ratio
Minimum solvency ratio required	1.50, set by IRDAI
GST on individual health premiums	0% (N11), effective 22 Sept 2025
Data verified	Aug 26, 2026

How Many Health Insurance Companies Are There in India?

India has 8 companies that sell only health insurance, and 26 companies that sell health insurance along with other types. Together, that’s about 34 companies offering health cover in 2026. You might see different numbers on different websites. That’s because there are two different kinds of insurance licences, and people count them differently.

This difference matters in real life. It affects what other insurance the company can sell you, how likely they are to handle your claim, and whether you can buy your car insurance and health insurance from the same place.

Type of insurer	Count	Can sell health?	Can sell motor, home, fire?
Standalone health insurers	8	Yes, exclusively	No
Private general insurers	22	Yes	Yes
Public sector general insurers	4	Yes	Yes
Total offering health cover	34

In short: if you want health insurance, you have 34 companies to pick from, not just 8. The licence type only tells you what else a company sells. It doesn’t tell you whether their health insurance is good, or how well they pay claims

Standalone Health Insurance Companies In India

A standalone health insurance company is a company that’s allowed to sell only health insurance, and nothing else. India has eight of these: Star Health, Care Health, Niva Bupa, Aditya Birla Health, ManipalCigna, Galaxy Health, Narayana Health, and Prudential HCL Health Insurance.

#	Company	IRDAI Reg. No.	Cashless network	Notable focus
1	Star Health and Allied Insurance	129	16,000+ hospitals	Largest standalone health insurer, in-house claims
2	Care Health Insurance	148	22,100+ providers	Senior citizen and pre-existing condition cover
3	Niva Bupa Health Insurance	145	10,500+ hospitals	Formerly Max Bupa, renamed in 2021
4	Aditya Birla Health Insurance	153	16,500+ hospitals	Wellness-linked premium benefits
5	ManipalCigna Health Insurance	151	8,500+ hospitals	Hospital group and global insurer partnership
6	Galaxy Health Insurance	167	10,250+ hospitals	Newest entrant among the original 7, licensed in 2024
7	Narayana Health Insurance	166	2,400+ hospitals	Backed by the Narayana Hospital Group
8	Prudential HCL Health Insurance	172	12,000+ hospitals	Newest entrant; JV between Prudential (70%) and HCL Group (30%), registered June 29, 2026

This exclusive licence matters in one useful way. These eight companies can also sell personal accident cover and travel insurance, since these fall under the health insurance category. But they can’t sell car, home, or fire insurance. Everything they offer is health-related.

Two of these eight companies used to go by different names.

Niva Bupa was earlier called Max Bupa. In 2019, True North bought a stake in it, and the name changed to Niva Bupa in 2021.
Care Health used to be called Religare Health Insurance. If you have an old policy under an old name, it’s still valid, and the company now honours it under its new name.

The newest company in this group is Prudential HCL Health Insurance. It got its licence from IRDAI on June 29, 2026. It’s a joint venture, which means two companies, Prudential and HCL Group, came together to form it.

Before Prudential HCL, Narayana Health got its licence in 2023, and Galaxy Health in 2024.

Galaxy Health was started by V. Jagannathan, who also founded Star Health.
Narayana Health is backed by the Narayana Hospital Group. That makes it one of the few insurance companies in India that is owned by a hospital group.

A word of caution about hospital numbers. Each company shares its own count of cashless hospitals, and they don’t all count the same way. So a big national number doesn’t tell you much about your local options.

It doesn’t guarantee the hospital near you is on the list, or that it’ll stay on the list next year. Before you buy, check the insurer’s current hospital list for your own city, and check it again every time you renew.

General Insurance Companies That Sell Health Insurance

All 26 general insurance companies in India can sell health insurance, along with car, home, and travel insurance. Some of them, like HDFC ERGO, ICICI Lombard, Bajaj General, and the four government-owned insurers, are among the biggest sellers of health insurance in the country.

Company	IRDAI Reg. No.	Health-line ICR (FY 2024-25)	Cashless network	Notes
HDFC ERGO General Insurance	146	84.85%	16,000+ hospitals	Absorbed Apollo Munich Health in 2020
ICICI Lombard General Insurance	115	82.24%	13,000+ hospitals	Broad retail and group health book
Bajaj General Insurance	113	87.31%	18,400+ hospitals	Formerly Bajaj Allianz General (renamed Oct 2025)
Tata AIG General Insurance	108	76.24%	15,000+ hospitals	Digital claims focus, strong solvency
The New India Assurance	190	100.98%	2,055+ hospitals	Largest general insurer, deep rural reach
United India Insurance	545	97.51%	14,000+ hospitals	Public-sector insurer; part of the four-PSU PPN network
The Oriental Insurance	556	102.58%	4,300+ hospitals	Public sector, North-zone PPN lead insurer
National Insurance	58	96.05%	5,320+ hospitals	Public sector, oldest of the four PSUs (est. 1906)
Go Digit General Insurance	158	83.78%	9,000+ hospitals	Technology-driven, digital-focused insurer
Acko General Insurance	157	57.82%	13,200 hospitals	Digital-first
SBI General Insurance	144	82.19%	18,000+ hospitals	SBI-backed general insurer with a broad multiline portfolio
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance	123	73.04%	13,500+ hospitals	Murugappa–Mitsui Sumitomo JV, strong retail health
IndusInd General Insurance (formerly Reliance)	103	87.34%	10,000+ hospitals	Renamed March 2025 after Hinduja/IHCL acquisition
Royal Sundaram General Insurance	102	95.56%	12,500+ hospitals	First private insurer licensed in India (2000)
IFFCO Tokio General Insurance	106	83.74%	10,000+ hospitals	Strong rural and retail presence

For a buyer, the real difference between these two is smaller than it seems. With a general insurer, you can keep your car, home, and health insurance all with one company, which can be easier to manage. A standalone health insurer deals with only health insurance.

Neither type is automatically better. What matters more is the specific company: its policies, hospital network, claim history, price, and service.

Standalone Health Insurer Vs General Insurer: Which to Buy From

Both types are regulated by IRDAI, and both must follow the same rule of keeping enough money in reserve, called a solvency ratio, of at least 1.5, so they can pay claims. A product’s quality depends more on the specific company than on which of these two types it is.

Parameter	Standalone health insurer	General insurer
Licence scope	Health, personal accident and travel only	All non-life lines
Number of companies	8	26
Product depth in health	Typically deeper, more variants	Varies widely by insurer
Claims handling	Often in-house	Often through a third-party administrator
Bundling with motor or home	Not possible	Possible with one insurer
Solvency requirement	1.50	1.50
Regulation	IRDAI	IRDAI

In short, choose based on the policy’s actual terms, such as:

The hospitals covered in your city
The company’s claim record, not the type of insurer

Standalone insurers often handle claims themselves, without bringing in another company. Some buyers prefer this because it means dealing with one less party. But a general insurer with good health coverage in your area can be just as good a choice.

Claim Ratios For Health Insurers: What To Actually Look At

In India, health insurers are measured using something called the incurred claim ratio. This simply means how much money a company paid out in claims, compared to how much it collected in premiums.

It’s different from the claim settlement ratio used for life insurance. For health insurers, a ratio between roughly 60 and 90 per cent usually means the company is paying claims fairly while staying financially healthy.

These two points apply specifically to health.

Health insurance naturally has a higher claim ratio than other kinds of insurance. Medical costs keep rising every year, and people claim more often for health than for, say, fire insurance. So if a health insurer shows 85%while another type of insurer shows 55%, that doesn’t mean the health insurer is doing worse. They’re just different kinds of business

A very low claim ratio should worry you more than a slightly high one. If a company pays out only a small part of what it collects, it usually means one of two things: either it’s charging more than it needs to, or it’s rejecting a lot of claims. Neither is good news if you’re the one holding the policy

Two other published figures tell you more about your own likely experience.

Claim repudiation rate- This tells you what percentage of claims the insurer rejected completely. It answers the question most buyers actually want answered, better than the incurred claim ratio does.
Grievance data- IRDAI publishes how many complaints each insurer gets. It helps to compare this against how many policies they’ve sold. For health insurance, most complaints are about rejected claims and refused cashless treatment. Because of that, this number is probably the best public clue to how good a company’s service quality really is.

Cashless Networks And TPAs Explained

A cashless network is a list of hospitals where your insurance company pays the hospital directly. You don’t pay first and get the money back later. A third-party administrator, or TPA, is a separate licensed company that some insurers hire to handle claims and manage this hospital network for them.

How a cashless claim works

For a planned admission:

Check that the hospital is currently on your insurer’s cashless list. Look at the insurer’s live, updated list online, not an old printout or screenshot, since these lists change often.
Inform the insurer or TPA before admission. Most policies require notice at least 48 to 72 hours ahead for a planned procedure. This varies by insurer, so check your policy wording for the exact period.
Submit a pre-authorisation form. This asks the insurer to approve your treatment in advance. The hospital’s insurance desk usually fills it out using your policy details and your doctor’s cost estimate.
Wait for the insurer’s decision. They’ll either approve it, ask more questions, or reject it. If approved, they’ll also name an amount, which may be lower than the hospital’s initial estimate.
At discharge, settle what is not covered. This can include things like non-medical supplies, room rent above your policy’s limit, and any amount you’re required to pay yourself, called a co-payment. Cashless does not mean you pay nothing.

In an emergency, the order is reversed. You get treated first, and the hospital tells your insurer or TPA afterwards, usually within 24 to 48 hours, depending on the insurer’s rules. So the approval step happens after treatment starts, not before.

Why a network hospital can still decline cashless

This next part often catches people off guard at the worst possible moment, which is exactly why the steps below matter:

The hospital may have stopped cashless treatment for that insurer because of a payment dispute, even if it’s still showing up on the insurer’s list
The treatment might fall under a waiting period, a set amount of time you have to wait before your policy covers that particular condition
The insurer might turn down the approval request until you provide certain documents they need first
Your condition might not be covered by your policy at all

If cashless treatment isn’t available, or your request gets rejected, you may have to pay the hospital yourself and claim the money back later, based on what your policy allows.

Keep every bill, prescription, discharge summary, and test report safely. Most reimbursement claims fail not because the treatment wasn’t covered, but because some paperwork went missing

In-house claims teams and TPAs

Some insurers handle claims themselves, while others hand the job to a TPA. The real difference is how many companies stand between you and a final decision. When an insurer handles it themselves, only one company is involved. When a TPA is involved, the hospital talks to the TPA, the TPA talks to the insurer, and you deal with whoever picks up the phone.

Neither setup is always better. What actually matters is how fast the insurer settles claims and how many complaints it gets, both published by IRDAI, rather than whether it uses a TPA or not.

What to check before you buy

Look up the insurer’s current hospital list for your city, and check specifically for the two or three hospitals you’d actually go to. A network of thousands of hospitals across the country means nothing if your preferred hospital isn’t one of them. Do this check again every year at renewal, since hospitals keep joining and leaving these networks.

Portability: Switching Health Insurance Companies

Health insurance portability means you can switch to a different insurance company without losing credit for the waiting periods you’ve already completed. IRDAI allows this switch when your policy comes up for renewal. You must apply to the new insurer before your current policy expires.

You need to apply to the new insurer between 60 and 30 days before your current policy’s renewal date. Some insurers may still accept applications as late as 15 days before, but that’s up to them. Applying on time protects you from any gap in your coverage

What carries forward:

Waiting periods you have already served, including for pre-existing conditions
Coverage for any pre-existing disease continues without a break, up to the coverage amount you had with your old insurer
Any no-claim bonus you’ve built up over time, in most cases, though this depends on the new insurer’s own rules

What does not carry forward:

If you raise your coverage amount when switching, the extra coverage usually comes with a brand new waiting period
Any benefit the new policy does not offer at all
Your familiarity with your old insurer’s hospital network. The new insurer’s network may be completely different

What the new insurer can still do:

Portability gives you the right to apply, not a guarantee of acceptance. The new insurer reviews your application and can reject or accept it with extra conditions, like a higher premium or certain exclusions, based on your health history and past claims. Don’t cancel your current policy until the new one is confirmed in writing.

Before you port, check three things:

Whether your hospitals are on the new insurer’s cashless list
Whether the new policy has different limits on specific expenses, or a different co-payment amount, compared to your current one
Whether the waiting periods you’ve already completed are being fully counted under the new policy

How To Choose A Health Insurance Company In India

Choosing a health insurance company in India comes down to five things you should check before buying. They’re listed here in the order that matters most when you actually file a claim, not the order most comparison sites use.

Are your hospitals on the cashless list in your city?

This affects your claim more than anything else. Check the insurer’s current list for the two or three hospitals you’d actually use.

What does the policy actually cover, and what is excluded?

Even policies from the same insurer can have different room rent limits, co-payment amounts, spending limits for specific diseases, and waiting periods.

Always read the actual policy document, not just the brochure. Two waiting periods trip people up the most: the one for pre-existing conditions, and the one for certain specific illnesses.

What is the insurer’s claim record?

Check their incurred claim ratio for health insurance, how often they reject claims, and how quickly they settle claims, if that information is available.

What does IRDAI’s grievance data say?

Look at the number of complaints compared to how many policies the company has sold, and what those complaints are mostly about. For health insurance, most are about rejected claims and refused cashless treatment.

In-house claims or a TPA?

Neither is automatically better, but knowing this tells you exactly who you’ll be dealing with if you’re standing in a hospital corridor at 11 pm.

Two things we’ve left out from this list on purpose: premium and brand

Premium matters, but the cheapest policy isn’t really cheap if it comes with a low room-rent limit and makes you wait two years before covering a condition you already have.
A well-known brand name only tells you how much a company spends on advertising. It doesn’t tell you how good their service actually is.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many health insurance companies are there in India?

India has 8 companies that sell only health insurance, and 26 general insurance companies that also sell health policies along with other types. In total, about 34 companies can sell you health insurance.

Which health insurance company is best in India?

There’s no single best health insurer for everyone. The right choice depends on whether your preferred hospitals are in the company’s cashless network, the waiting periods and coverage limits of the specific policy you’re buying, and the company’s claim and complaint record. Compare these three things for your own situation, rather than relying on a general ranking

What is a standalone health insurance company?

A standalone health insurance company is one that can sell only health insurance. India has eight of these, including Star Health, Care Health, and Niva Bupa. They can also sell personal accident and travel insurance, but unlike general insurers, they can’t sell car, home, or fire insurance.

What claim ratios should I compare when choosing a health insurer?

You can compare health insurers using a few numbers, mainly the incurred claim ratio and claim settlement figures. The incurred claim ratio compares how much a company paid in claims to how much it earned in premiums. A higher number isn’t always better, since a very high ratio can mean claim costs are eating up most of the company’s income. To check the CSR or ICR of individual insurers, refer to the IRDAI Annual Report FY 2024-25.

Can I buy health insurance from a general insurance company?

Yes. Every general insurance company in India can sell health insurance, and some are among the biggest sellers by premium collected. A general insurer lets you keep your car, home, and health insurance with one company, while a standalone health insurer focuses only on health. It’s best to compare the actual policies rather than which type of company you’re buying from

Which health insurance company has the largest cashless hospital network?

Cashless network sizes keep changing, and each insurer counts them differently, so it’s better to check the live list than trust a published total. What matters far more is whether the two or three hospitals you’d actually use are on that list, in your own city. A large national number doesn’t guarantee good coverage where you live.

Can I switch my health insurance company without losing waiting period benefits?

Yes, this is called portability. It lets you switch to another insurer without losing credit for the waiting periods you’ve already completed, including for pre-existing conditions. Apply to the new insurer before your current policy expires. The new insurer still reviews your application and can reject it or accept it with conditions, so don’t cancel your current policy until the new one is confirmed.

Is GST charged on health insurance premiums in India?

No. Since September 22, 2025, individual and family health insurance premiums have been exempt from GST, following a rate cut by the GST Council. You now pay only the base premium, with no extra tax added. Group health insurance, however, still remains taxable.

Disclaimer:

MyRupia is not an insurance intermediary and does not sell insurance policies. This page is published for information only. Policy terms, including waiting periods, sub-limits, and exclusions, vary between products; always read the policy wording.

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