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Introduction

Before we start comparing these two policies we have to set out some ground rules.

Both products are marketed by different insurance companies. Individual Gold Plan is sold by United India and iHealth Plus is sold by ICICI Lombard. So any meaningful comparison should include a comparison of the product alongside the insurers themselves.

Second, we know that both products have massive differences in their core structure. Individual Gold Plan is quite basic. It offers little protection and may not be entirely suitable if you are looking for robust protection. However, iHealth Plus is a premium policy tailored to cover as many use cases as possible. So in all honesty, you are comparing apples and oranges here.

And finally, any comparison is ultimately futile without considering the use case. Who are you buying this policy for? You, your family, your parents?

That’s something you’ll need to answer before using this guide. So with that introduction out of the way, we can get to comparing the actual policies themselves.


Let’s start with Individual Gold Plan. The product comes from United India’s stable:

United India General Insurance company is an amalgamation of 22 different entities. The insurer has played an integral part in underwriting numerous government insurance schemes like - Maharashtra Government’s Mahathma Jyothiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana Health Insurance Scheme (2020) & Prime Minister Suraksha Bima Yojana.

However, since it is a government-owned insurance firm, it’s not the most nimble insurance company out there.


iHealth Plus meanwhile comes from ICICI Lombard’s stable:

ICICI Lombard Health Insurance company is a joint venture between India's ICICI Bank and Canada's Fairfax Holdings. They are one of the leading insurance companies with over 270 branches spread across India.

However, with a claim settlement ratio of 85% and a measly network of 7,500+ hospitals, their performance needs significant improvement.

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Insurance Parameters

Recommended
Not Recommended
Network hospitals
3,043
7,500+
Claim settlement ratio

(avg. of last 3 years)

94%
85%
Co-payment

No

No

Room rent

Any Room

(up to 1% of sum insured)

Any Room

Disease sub-limit

Yes

No

Pre existing diseases waiting

4 years

2 years

Pre/Post hospitalization

30/60 days

30/60 days

No claim bonus

10% per year

(up to 50%)

Domiciliary
Ayush treatments
Restoration benefit

100% restoration

(once for different illness)

Health check-up
Once every 3 years
Once every year
Maternity

Available

(up to ₹50,000 after 3 years)

Out Patient Department

Up to ₹5,000

(Annually)

Day care

Feature Comparison

coPay

Co payment

With a co-payment clause, the insurer will mandate that you pay a part of the bill. So if the bill adds up to Rs. 2,00,000 and the co-payment is set at 20% then you could be asked to pay Rs. 40,000 from the bill. In this case, however, Individual Gold Plan doesn’t impose a co-payment clause. And neither does iHealth Plus.

roomRent

Room rent

If the policy does impose room rent restrictions then the insurer may only let you stay in a room of a certain specification or impose a cap on the total room rent. If you were to breach either criterion then the insurance company may ask you to pay a portion of all the expenses you incurred while staying in the room. In this case, however, Individual Gold Plan only lets you stay in a room whose rent doesn’t exceed 1% of the total sum insured but you can pick any room you want with iHealth Plus.

diseaseSublimit

Sub limits

Some policies will tell you that they will cover all medical expenses up until the sum insured, but then impose caps on the total costs you can incur while dealing with a very specific list of diseases. We call these caps “Disease Wise Sub Limits.” In this case, Individual Gold Plan imposes disease-wise sub-limits on Heart diseases, Major surgeries whereas iHealth Plus doesn’t impose a disease wise sub-limit.

ped

Waiting periods for pre-existing diseases

If you’re suffering from a lifestyle condition or if you’ve had surgery in the past, or if you’re dealing with an acute or chronic illness at the time of buying the policy, then the insurer may classify this as a pre-existing disease. And they may tell you that they will only cover these illnesses after some time. In this case, Individual Gold Plan imposes a waiting period of 4 years on pre-existing diseases while iHealth Plus extends a waiting period of 2 years on existing conditions.

prePost

Pre and post Hospitalization expenses

Most people aren’t hospitalized right off the bat. Instead, they’ll have to go through a whole series of diagnostic tests before hospitalization and take medication post-discharge. These costs are outlined as pre-hospitalization expenses and post-hospitalization expenses respectively. In this case, Individual Gold Plan covers expenses incurred 30 days before hospitalization and expenses incurred 60 days post-hospitalization. Meanwhile, iHealth Plus covers expenses incurred 30 days before hospitalization and expenses incurred 60 after hospitalization, although there may be different sub-limits

ncb

No claim bonus

Some policies will tell you that they will incentivize you for not making a claim in any given year. And they offer such incentives by offering extra cover on top of the existing sum insured. This extra cover is categorized as a no-claim bonus. In this case, however, Individual Gold Plan doesn’t offer a no-claim bonus whereas iHealth Plus offers a no-claim bonus.

domiciliary

Domiciliary

Imagine you are forced to treat yourself at home because you don’t find a hospital bed, or you have a chronic condition that prevents you from visiting one, then, insurers may choose to cover your treatment even if you’re hospitalized at home. And such costs are collectively categorized as domiciliary treatment costs. In this case, however, Individual Gold Plan offers domiciliary cover whereas iHealth Plus doesn’t offer domiciliary protection.

ayush

Ayush treatments

Most policies only cover treatments administered in a registered medical facility. However, on some occasions, you may want to pursue alternative treatments including homoeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha. These treatments are collectively categorized as Ayush treatments. And in this case, Individual Gold Plan covers Ayush procedures and iHealth Plus also extends coverage for Ayush treatments.

maternity

Maternity benefits

If you’re hospitalized during childbirth, then you may have to incur significant costs during delivery of your newborn, child care and other related matters during the course of the hospitalization. These costs are collectively termed maternity costs. And in this case, however, Individual Gold Plan doesn’t offer protection for maternity-related hospitalizations whereas iHealth Plus offers maternity cover.

opd

Out Patient Department (OPD)

Doctor visits and regular consultations aren’t usually covered by health insurance policies. They are categorized as Outpatient consultations (or OPD treatments) and patients have to bear the cost on their own. In this case, however, Individual Gold Plan doesn’t offer OPD protection whereas iHealth Plus offers OPD cover.

Final Conclusion

It should be obvious that iHealth Plus offers substantially better features when compared to Individual Gold Plan. But considering ICICI Lombard has a claim settlement ratio that can only be considered sub-par at best, we would still recommend going with anything that United India has to offer.

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