Loading
/Mental Health 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
Everyday medical costs
Every feature behind Everyday medical costs, deciders first - pick one to see how the plans differ.
2 more features here look much the same across the plans we cover - they rarely decide the choice.
Step 3Plan Comparison
What is Mental Health Cover in health insurance?
Covers treatment for mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia - both for hospitalisation and, in some plans, for outpatient therapy sessions. In India, insurers are legally required to treat mental health on par with physical health.
Also called: mental illness cover · psychiatric treatment cover · counselling and therapy cover
Every plan, ranked11 · 7 standard · 4 not covered
HDFC ERGOStandardOptima RestoreIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
Standard
Neither document uses the words mental illness. Treatment for a mental illness is handled like any other illness: if a doctor says hospitalisation is necessary, it is covered up to your Sum Insured, with no separate cap and no separate waiting period named. Consultations and therapy sessions attended without an admission are not paid.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
OPD and therapyIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
In-patient expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Mental health add-onNot available
Watch out
Outpatient counselling and psychiatric consultations are not payable, because the policy excludes conditions that could have been treated without hospitalisation. You pay for those sessions yourself.
ICICI LombardStandardElevateIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
Standard
Out-patient care is excluded unless you buy BeFit, which gives online counselling sessions with a psychologist - six a year on the smallest plan, unlimited on the top two.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
OPD and therapyIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
In-patient expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Mental health add-onAvailable - BeFit (e-Counseling) - includes OPD mental health
Mental conditions coveredAcute depression, Anxiety, OCD, PTSD
Watch out
BeFit keeps mental-health counselling inside its e-counselling session count, so you cannot spend the physical-consultation quota on a psychiatrist's visit. Those sessions are online, with a psychologist. Treatment for alcohol, drug or substance abuse is excluded outright.
Care HealthStandardCare AdvantageIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
Standard
In-patient treatment for mental illness is covered like any other illness, up to your full Sum Insured, with no separate cap. The policy defines mental illness and nowhere excludes treating it. Out-patient therapy and counselling are not covered at all, and there is no mental health add-on to buy, so regular sessions are paid by you.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
OPD and therapyIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
In-patient expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Mental health add-onNot available
Watch out
Out-patient care is where most mental health treatment happens, and this policy pays none of it. Every therapy session and every psychiatrist consultation outside a hospital admission is paid by you from your own pocket.
Aditya BirlaStandardActiv One · VYTLIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
Standard
Hospital treatment for a mental illness - a condition caused by or linked to stress, anxiety or depression - is paid at actuals up to your full sum insured, on the same footing as a physical illness, on every plan. There is no separate lower cap. Therapy or a psychiatrist's visit outside hospital is not covered.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
OPD and therapyIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
In-patient expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Mental health add-onNot available
Watch out
Cover begins at admission. Counselling sessions and any standalone psychiatric or psychological examination or test are excluded, so you pay for day-to-day mental health care from your own pocket.
Care HealthStandardCare SupremeIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
Standard
In-patient treatment for mental illness is covered like any other illness, up to your full sum insured, with no separate cap. Out-patient therapy is not in the base plan - for that you buy the optional Mental Health wellbeing benefit, which pays consultation, counselling and rehabilitation on a cashless basis for four listed conditions, up to 10,000, 25,000 or 50,000 rupees a year depending on the limit you choose.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
OPD and therapyIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
In-patient expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Mental health add-onAvailable - Mental Health wellbeing - includes OPD mental health
Mental conditions coveredAcute depression, OCD, Anxiety, PTSD
Watch out
The optional out-patient cover works only on a cashless basis at the insurer's network, so a therapist you pay yourself is not reimbursed. It also covers only acute depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder.
HDFC ERGOStandardOptima Secure · Optima-SelectIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
Standard
Hospitalisation for mental illness is paid the same way as any other illness - up to the Sum Insured, with no separate sub-limit anywhere in the wording and no exclusion for psychiatric treatment. Therapy and psychiatrist visits taken as an outpatient are not paid, because outpatient treatment is excluded on every plan.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
OPD and therapyIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
In-patient expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Watch out
Most mental health care happens outside a hospital, and that side is excluded here.
Niva BupaStandardReAssure 3.0 · ClassicIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
Standard
Hospitalisation for a mental illness is paid the same way as any other illness - up to your Sum Insured, with no separate cap in the wording. Out-patient therapy is not part of the base plan. Online emotional and mind wellness sessions are available as optional benefits through the insurer's partner network, and WellConsult+ carries unlimited mental wellness sessions.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
OPD and therapyIn-patient only, no OPD or therapy
In-patient expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Mental health add-onAvailable - Mind Wellness Counselling - includes OPD mental health
Watch out
The counselling benefits are online sessions through partner platforms, not sessions with a psychiatrist of your choice, and they are available in India only. All waiting periods and exclusions apply to them.
Star HealthNot coveredSuper StarNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
Super Star carries no mental health benefit. Neither document has a psychiatric or psychological treatment cover, a therapy allowance, or a row for one in the Table of Benefits. The single place psychiatric conditions are named is a carve-out: home treatment under Domiciliary Hospitalisation does not pay for any psychiatric or psychosomatic disorder.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Mental health add-onNot available
Watch out
If someone in your family may need treatment for depression, anxiety or a similar condition, check this before you buy. The one place the policy names psychiatric disorders is to leave them out of a benefit, not to cover them.
Star HealthNot coveredStar ComprehensiveNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
Star Comprehensive carries no mental health benefit.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Mental health add-onNot available
Star HealthNot coveredFamily Health OptimaNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
The policy has no separate mental health section and excludes no mental illness.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Mental health add-onNot available
Star HealthNot coveredStar Health AssureNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
Star Health Assure carries no mental health benefit. Neither the policy nor the prospectus has a psychiatric or psychological treatment cover, and the Schedule of Benefits has no row for one. Psychiatric conditions are named once, and only to leave them out: home treatment under Domiciliary Hospitalisation does not pay for any psychiatric or psychosomatic disorder.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Watch out
If someone in your family may need treatment for depression, anxiety or a similar condition, check this before you buy. The one place the policy names psychiatric disorders is a carve-out, not a benefit.
Step 4Shortlist
Your decision so far
Tap a plan to pick it, then read it in full or compare any two.
Nothing kept yet
Tap the bookmark on any plan in the comparison above and it lands here. Then pick one to read it in full, or two to compare.
Or read one we prepared for Mental Health CoverSuper Star vs Optima RestoreSuper Star vs Star ComprehensiveOptima Restore vs Star Comprehensive
Every feature, A to Z
Each one has its own page - what it means, and how every plan handles it.