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/Chronic Care Cover
Find what matters most to you.
Pick a coverage concern and see its exact policy terms, compared side-by-side across top Indian health insurance plans.
36 features mapped
6 coverage topics
Start here8
The concerns that cost the most when a plan gets them wrong
Step 1Coverage Directory
Every category, decoded
All 6 coverage topics in one place - start with the worry on your mind, and open the features that decide it.
Step 2Feature Library
When does my cover switch on?
Every feature behind When does my cover switch on?, deciders first - pick one to see how the plans differ.
1 more feature here looks much the same across the plans we cover - it rarely decides the choice.
Step 3Plan Comparison
What is Chronic Care Cover in health insurance?
An add-on that covers regular expenses for managing chronic conditions - Asthma, Blood pressure, Cholesterol, and Diabetes - including doctor visits, medicines, and tests. These costs are normally excluded from standard plans that only cover hospitalisation.
Every plan, ranked11 · 1 strong · 1 standard · 4 limited · 5 not covered
Aditya BirlaStrongActiv One · VYTLDiabetes, High Blood Pressure, Asthma, High Cholesterol, COPD, Obesity, Coronary Artery Disease (post-PTCA)
Strong
Seven chronic conditions - diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, high cholesterol, COPD, obesity and coronary artery disease with angioplasty done over a year ago - are covered from day one, with the pre-existing and 30-day waits waived. VYTL builds it in, most plans sell it as an add-on, and VIP and VIP+ do not offer it. A cashless OPD programme covers consultations and tests.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
Covered Chronic ConditionsDiabetes, High Blood Pressure, Asthma, High Cholesterol, COPD, Obesity, Coronary Artery Disease (post-PTCA)
Eligible Claim TypesHospitalisation + OPD
Waiting Period After Activation (Days)0 days
Watch out
Once you take this cover for a condition, you cannot drop it at a later renewal. On VYTL, where it is built in, the Chronic Care Restriction option removes it - which also removes the day-one cover for those conditions.
ICICI LombardStandardElevateOptional - Asthma, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Obesity, Coronary Artery Disease (post-PTCA)
Standard
Two paid optional covers handle chronic illness. The Chronic Disease Management Program enrols you for cashless health tracking, a dietician, counselling and two diagnostic check-ups a Policy Year for asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and coronary artery disease. Jumpstart covers hospitalisation for those same six from Day 31 instead of after 36 months.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredOptional add-on
Covered Chronic ConditionsAsthma, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Obesity, Coronary Artery Disease (post-PTCA)
Eligible Claim TypesHospitalisation Only
Waiting Period After Activation (Days)30 days
Watch out
Both work only for a condition you declared and the insurer accepted. The Program is cashless-only through the insurer's service provider and pays for check-ups and counselling, not for your regular medicines or doctor visits. You must be 18 or over to join it.
Star HealthLimitedSuper StarOptional - Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Asthma, High Cholesterol, Coronary Artery Disease (post-PTCA)
Limited
Chronic cover here is one optional cover, Quick Shield. It waives the pre-existing waiting period for diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, high cholesterol and coronary artery disease with PTCA done over a year ago, so hospital treatment for them is payable from the 31st day instead of after 36 months. It pays nothing towards medicines, tests or doctor visits.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredOptional add-on
Covered Chronic ConditionsDiabetes, High Blood Pressure, Asthma, High Cholesterol, Coronary Artery Disease (post-PTCA)
Eligible Claim TypesHospitalisation Only
Waiting Period After Activation (Days)30 days
Watch out
Quick Shield is sold only at the first purchase, only up to age 65, and medical underwriting is compulsory. It pays under In-patient and Day Care treatment only, so you pay the month-to-month cost of managing the condition yourself. The premium for Quick Shield is collected for five years.
HDFC ERGOLimitedOptima RestoreOptional - Asthma, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Diabetes
Limited
The base plan has nothing for chronic-condition care, so asthma, blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes sit behind the 36-month pre-existing wait like any other condition. A separate paid add-on, ABCD Chronic Care, pays hospitalisation expenses for those four after a 30-day wait instead. It names hospitalisation only, so monthly medicines and consultations stay out.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredOptional add-on
Covered Chronic ConditionsAsthma, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Diabetes
Eligible Claim TypesHospitalisation Only
Waiting Period After Activation (Days)30 days
Watch out
The add-on names four conditions only - COPD, obesity and heart disease after angioplasty are not on the list. Its full terms are in neither the policy wording nor the prospectus. The add-on pays hospitalisation expenses. The regular medicines, blood tests and doctor visits that these four conditions cost you every month are not covered by it.
Care HealthLimitedCare SupremeOptional - Asthma, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Diabetes
Limited
Chronic cover here is an optional benefit called Instant Cover. It removes the pre-existing waiting period for Diabetes, Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia and Asthma, so hospitalisation for those four is payable from the 31st day instead of after 36 months. It does not pay for day-to-day medicines, doctor visits or tests - this product has no OPD cover. A separate optional Health Management Program adds a health coach and condition-specific tests.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredOptional add-on
Covered Chronic ConditionsAsthma, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Diabetes
Eligible Claim TypesHospitalisation Only
Waiting Period After Activation (Days)30 days
Watch out
Instant Cover can only be bought when you take your first policy with Care Health, and it needs unbroken renewals to stay in force. You must choose between Instant Cover and the PED Wait Period Modification - the policy does not allow both.
HDFC ERGOLimitedOptima Secure · Optima-SelectOptional - Asthma, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Diabetes
Limited
Chronic care is a separate add-on, ABCD Chronic Care, which pays hospitalisation expenses for Asthma, Blood pressure, Cholesterol and Diabetes after a 30-day wait instead of the usual 36-month pre-existing wait. The add-on names hospitalisation expenses only, so day-to-day medicines and consultations are not covered.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredOptional add-on
Covered Chronic ConditionsAsthma, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Diabetes
Eligible Claim TypesHospitalisation Only
Waiting Period After Activation (Days)30 days
Watch out
Whether you are offered the add-on depends on what you declare in the proposal form and on the insurer's underwriting. It names four conditions only - COPD, obesity and heart disease are not on the list.
Star HealthNot coveredStar ComprehensiveNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
This policy does not cover the day-to-day cost of managing a chronic condition.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Watch out
Out-patient consultations at a network facility are payable under Section 16 up to a stated yearly limit, but that benefit covers doctor visits only, not the medicines and tests a chronic condition needs every month.
Star HealthNot coveredFamily Health OptimaNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
This policy does not cover the day-to-day cost of managing a chronic condition such as diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma or high cholesterol.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Watch out
The Chronic Condition Management Program under the Star Wellness Program only awards wellness points towards a renewal premium discount. It pays no medical expenses, so treat it as a discount scheme, not as chronic-care cover.
Care HealthNot coveredCare AdvantageNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
This product does not cover the day-to-day cost of managing a chronic condition. Neither the eight base benefits nor the thirteen optional covers pay for the doctor visits, medicines or tests that diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or asthma need, so you pay for those yourself.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Watch out
Benefit 8 'Discount Connect' gives you special rates at network providers for consultations, diagnostics and pharmacy, but it pays nothing back to you.
Star HealthNot coveredStar Health AssureNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
This policy does not pay the day-to-day cost of managing asthma, blood pressure, cholesterol or diabetes - no consultations, medicines or routine tests outside hospitalisation.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Niva BupaNot coveredReAssure 3.0 · ClassicNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
ReAssure 3.0 does not cover the day-to-day cost of managing chronic conditions. Diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and asthma are handled only through the ordinary pre-existing disease route: you declare them when you apply, and hospitalisation for them is paid after the 36-month waiting period, or 12 or 24 months if you bought the shorter wait.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Step 4Shortlist
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Or read one we prepared for Chronic Care CoverSuper Star vs Optima RestoreSuper Star vs Star ComprehensiveOptima Restore vs Star Comprehensive
Every feature, A to Z
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