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/Non-Payable Items Cover
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Big hospital bills
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Step 3Plan Comparison
What is Non-Payable Items Cover in health insurance?
Hospitals charge for many small items - gloves, syringes, bandages, sanitisers - that most insurers refuse to pay for by default. These non-payable items can make up 10-20% of your bill. This feature ensures your insurer covers those costs too, so you face fewer surprise deductions at discharge.
Also called: consumables cover · non-medical expenses cover · List I non-payable items
What counts as a non-payable item?
The regulator fixes this list and every policy wording we hold reproduces it - 146 items in four groups.
List I - not paid by the policy68 items
The hospital may bill these separately, but a health policy does not pay for them. Whether a plan pays for them anyway is exactly what the plan rows below compare.
- Baby food
- Baby utilities charges
- Beauty services
- Belts/braces
- Buds
- Cold pack/hot pack
- Carry bags
- Email/internet charges
- Food charges (other than patient's diet provided by hospital)
- Leggings
- Laundry charges
- Mineral water
- Sanitary pad
- Telephone charges
- Guest services
- Crepe bandage
- Diaper of any type
- Eyelet collar
- Slings
- Blood grouping and cross matching of donors' samples
- Service charges where nursing charge also charged
- Television charges
- Surcharges
- Attendant charges
Source: IRDAI's standard list of non-medical items (Lists I to IV), printed as an annexure in every policy wording we hold. Transcribed from the Optima Secure policy wording (UIN HDFHLIP26058V082526), Annexure B, and checked against the Activ Care policy wording (UIN ADIHLIP21062V022021), Annexure I.
Every plan, ranked11 · 4 strong · 4 limited · 3 not covered
Aditya BirlaStrongActiv One · VYTLList I, List II, List III, List IV
Strong
Claim Protect pays the hospital's non-medical items - gloves, syringes, bandages, sanitisers and the rest of Annexure I's four lists - up to the Sum Insured, so they are not deducted at discharge. It is built into six of the seven plans; on NXT you buy it as an optional cover.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
IRDAI Non-payable Lists CoveredList I, List II, List III, List IV
Reduces Main Sum InsuredYes
Expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Star HealthStrongStar Health AssureList I, List II, List III, List IV
Strong
The consumables most insurers refuse - gloves, masks, syringes, nebulisation kits, ECG electrodes and the rest of the IRDAI List I - are paid whenever an in-patient or day care claim is admitted, up to the Sum Insured with no separate cap. These items often make up 10 to 20% of a hospital bill.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
IRDAI Non-payable Lists CoveredList I, List II, List III, List IV
Reduces Main Sum InsuredYes
Expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Watch out
The cover runs off the admitted claim, so if the hospitalisation claim itself is rejected the consumables go with it.
HDFC ERGOStrongOptima Secure · Optima-SecureList I, List II, List III, List IV
Strong
The Protect Benefit pays the non-medical items hospitals bill for - gloves, syringes, masks, nebuliser kits, admission charges - that insurers normally reject. It is built into most plans, optional on Optima Select and Optima Lite, and absent from Optima Suraksha.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
IRDAI Non-payable Lists CoveredList I, List II, List III, List IV
Reduces Main Sum InsuredYes
Expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Watch out
These items commonly run to 10-20% of a hospital bill, so on a ₹4,00,000 stay that is ₹40,000 to ₹80,000. On plans where Protect Benefit is optional, it must be chosen at policy start or at a renewal, and it only pays if your Policy Schedule shows it in force.
Niva BupaStrongReAssure 3.0 · ClassicOptional - List I, List II, List III, List IV
Strong
By default the insurer deducts the items in Annexure I - gloves, syringes, nebulisation kits, ECG electrodes and dozens more - from your hospital bill. Claim Safeguard+ buys all four of those lists back, so those charges are paid up to your Sum Insured. It is an optional benefit you have to ask for, on every plan.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredOptional add-on
IRDAI Non-payable Lists CoveredList I, List II, List III, List IV
Reduces Main Sum InsuredYes
Expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Watch out
Without Claim Safeguard+, these deductions typically run 10 to 20% of a hospital bill. On a Rs 4,00,000 admission that is Rs 40,000 to Rs 80,000 you pay at discharge. Reasonable and Customary Charges still apply, so an item priced far above the local going rate can still be trimmed.
Star HealthLimitedSuper StarOptional - List I
Limited
Hospital consumables are not covered by default. Buying the optional Coverage for Non-medical Items makes all 68 items on the policy's List I payable. The option can only be bought within the first three policy years.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredOptional add-on
IRDAI Non-payable Lists CoveredList I
Reduces Main Sum InsuredYes
Expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
ICICI LombardLimitedElevateOptional - List I
Limited
The consumables a hospital bills you for - gloves, kits, electrodes and the rest of Annexure II List I - are not paid by the base cover. Optional Cover, Claim Protector, makes that whole list payable when an in-patient or day-care claim is accepted. No Loyalty Bonus, Inflation Protector or Reset amount can be used for it.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredOptional add-on
IRDAI Non-payable Lists CoveredList I
Reduces Main Sum InsuredYes
Expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Watch out
Claim Protector works only inside India, even if you also buy Worldwide Cover. The non-payable list itself can be updated by IRDAI, so check the current list on the insurer's website before a planned admission.
Care HealthLimitedCare SupremeOptional - List I
Limited
Consumables like gloves, syringes and belts are not paid by default. The optional Claim Shield benefit makes the items in IRDAI List I payable up to the Sum Insured when a claim is accepted.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredOptional add-on
IRDAI Non-payable Lists CoveredList I
Reduces Main Sum InsuredYes
Expense limitCovered up to full Sum Insured
Watch out
Claim Shield pays a List I item only. It is an optional benefit, so it applies only if it is printed on your Policy Schedule. These consumables often run to 10 to 20 per cent of the total, so you pay that share from your own pocket.
HDFC ERGOLimitedOptima RestoreOptional - List I
Limited
The base plan does not pay the consumables list. Gloves, syringes, baby food, oxygen cylinders for home use and the rest of IRDAI List I are excluded outright, so those charges are settled by you at discharge. Cover for them is sold separately as the Protector Rider, whose limits and premium neither document states.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredOptional add-on
IRDAI Non-payable Lists CoveredList I
The catch
Every item in IRDAI List I is paid by you at discharge unless you buy the Protector Rider. On a ₹4,00,000 hospital bill, a consumables share of ₹40,000 is money the base plan never pays.
Star HealthNot coveredStar ComprehensiveNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
This policy has no cover for hospital non-payable items.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Star HealthNot coveredFamily Health OptimaNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
This policy does not pay for hospital non-payable items. Registration, admission, record and telephone charges are excluded by name, and a further list of excluded expenses is held on the insurer's website rather than in the policy. There is no add-on that buys this cover back.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Care HealthNot coveredCare AdvantageNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
This policy does not cover the hospital's non-medical items. Permanent exclusion 1 makes every entry in Annexure II non-payable, and List I of that annexure alone runs to 68 items - gloves, masks, nebulisation kits, ECG electrodes, unlabelled procedure kits. Those lines on your discharge bill are paid by you.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Watch out
No benefit in this policy pays for consumables, so every gloves, mask, syringe and kit line on your discharge bill is paid by you. RMO charges, service charges, surcharges and night charges are excluded on top of that.
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Or read one we prepared for Non-Payable Items CoverSuper Star vs Optima RestoreSuper Star vs Star ComprehensiveOptima Restore vs Star Comprehensive
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