ICICI Lombard Elevate vs Star Health Superstar Plans: Which Offers Better Coverage?

When it comes to choosing the right health insurance plan, understanding the key features, benefits, and coverage options is essential. In 2024, two standout plans have emerged in the market: ICICI Lombard Elevate Health Insurance Plan and Star Health Insurance Superstar Plan. Both offer extensive coverage, innovative add-ons, and flexible options tailored to meet diverse healthcare needs. However, selecting the best one for your family requires a detailed comparison. In this article, we will analyze the two plans, examining their sum insured options, eligibility, additional benefits, and pricing to determine which offers better coverage and value for your needs.

Also see: ICICI Lombard Elevate VS ACKO Platinum Plans

Overview of the Plans

ICICI Lombard Elevate is a comprehensive health insurance plan offering a range of customizable add-ons. It provides substantial flexibility, with coverage options reaching up to ₹3 crore and several unique benefits tailored to different health conditions. On the other hand, the Star Health Superstar Plan is designed with simplicity in mind, offering customizable coverage but with a maximum sum insured of ₹1 crore.

Eligibility Criteria

The ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan allows adults aged 18 to 125 years to take the policy, which offers remarkable flexibility for senior citizens. On the other hand, the Superstar Plan has no maximum entry age for adults but starts from 18 years. Both plans allow dependent children to be included from 91 days, but while the Elevate Plan allows coverage for children up to 30 years, the Superstar Plan caps it at 25 years.

Both plans can be renewed for a lifetime, and you have the flexibility to choose between individual and family floater policies.

Also see: Comparison of ICICI Lombard Elevate and ManipalCigna Sarvah Plan

Sum Insured Options

Sum insured options are significant in both plans. The ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan offers coverage starting from ₹5 lakhs and going up to ₹3 crores. The Superstar Plan by Star Health Insurance provides similar coverage options ranging from ₹5 lakhs to ₹1 crore. Notably, both plans offer the option of an unlimited sum insured, providing peace of mind in case of high medical expenses.

Policy Tenure

The ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan offers policies for 1, 2, or 3 years, with discounts available for long-term commitments. The Superstar Plan takes this further by offering a 5-year policy option, which not only provides a long-term commitment advantage but also shields the policyholder from price revisions during the tenure.

Room Rent and Hospitalization Coverage

Room rent is a key factor in hospitalisation expenses. In the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan, policyholders can avail of a single private room under the standard plan. Upgrades are available, but these come at an additional cost. In contrast, the Superstar Plan offers more flexibility, allowing policyholders to select any room category under the standard plan. Both plans cover day care treatments, domiciliary treatments, and home care treatment. However, home care treatment is only available under the Superstar Plan.

Pre and Post-Hospitalization Coverage

Both plans offer significant pre and post-hospitalization expense coverage. They provide up to 90 days pre-hospitalization and 180 days post-hospitalization coverage. These expenses are reimbursed after treatment, meaning you will have to pay upfront and then claim the expenses from the insurance company later.

Road Ambulance Coverage

Both the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan and the Star Health Superstar Plan provide comprehensive road ambulance coverage. In both plans, there is no capping on the expenses for road ambulance services, meaning that the actual costs incurred will be covered, ensuring that policyholders do not have to worry about limits when an emergency arises.

Consumables

Consumables, which are non-medical items often excluded from standard health insurance policies, are not covered in the standard versions of either the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan or the Star Health Superstar Plan. However, both plans offer add-ons that allow policyholders to include consumable items as part of their coverage. These add-ons, such as Claim Protector in the Elevate Plan and Consumer Bills in the Superstar Plan, ensure that consumables like gloves, syringes, and other necessary non-medical items can be claimed during hospitalization, making the coverage more comprehensive and reducing out-of-pocket expenses.

Maternity and Newborn Baby Cover

In both plans, maternity and newborn baby coverage can be opted for as an add-on, providing flexibility for families. Along with maternity benefits, coverage for newborn vaccinations is included in the add-on. This ensures that essential vaccinations for the newborn, typically required in the early stages of life, are covered by the policy.

In earlier plans, maternity coverage was either included or excluded, forcing policyholders who didn’t need it to pay extra. Now, with these add-on options, you can customize your policy to include both maternity expenses and vaccination coverage for your newborn. This feature is available in both the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan and the Star Health Superstar Plan.

Modern Treatments and Cumulative Bonus

Modern treatments, such as robotic surgery and organ transplants, are covered in both plans. The ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan offers a 20% cumulative bonus every claim-free year, while the Superstar Plan offers an impressive 50% cumulative bonus per claim-free year, which can double your sum insured in just two years.

Restoration Benefits

Restoration of the sum insured after exhausting the base coverage is available in both plans. The ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan provides infinite resets, meaning that even after using the sum insured, it will keep resetting for unlimited times during the policy term. The Superstar Plan also offers this benefit, with a 100% restoration of the sum insured for unlimited times in a year.

Freeze Your Age

The Freeze Your Age feature is an exclusive benefit available under the Star Health Insurance Superstar Plan. This innovative option allows policyholders to lock their premium rate based on their age at the time of purchasing the policy. Essentially, the premium remains the same and does not increase with age, provided no claims are made. This is particularly useful in protecting the policyholder from inflation and rising premium costs over time.

To avail of this feature, the policyholder must purchase the Superstar Plan before turning 50 years old. The benefit remains active until the age of 55, after which it is deactivated. This feature is not available in the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan, making the Star Health Superstar Plan stand out in terms of long-term premium stability.

Wellness Program

Wellness programs are becoming increasingly popular for encouraging healthy lifestyles. The ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan offers up to 30% savings on renewal premiums through its wellness program, while the Superstar Plan offers a 20% discount on premiums for active policyholders.

Co-payment

Now it is time to discuss the copayment feature. As an add-on, you can choose the co-payment feature in both the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan and the Star Health Superstar Plan. This means that, if a claim is made, you will be required to pay a fixed percentage of the total claim amount, and the insurance company will cover the rest. In return for opting for this feature, you receive a discount on your premium. The copayment option can be a useful cost-saving tool, especially if you anticipate lower medical expenses or are willing to share some of the financial burden. Both plans allow policyholders to opt for this feature as an add-on, providing flexibility in managing premiums and claims.

Deductible

In the Star Health Superstar Plan, the deductible option allows policyholders to set an annual aggregate deductible, which means that you need to pay a fixed amount for the entire year before the insurance company starts covering expenses. This feature helps reduce the premium, offering flexibility for those willing to share some of the initial costs. However, this option is not available in the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan, making the Superstar Plan more suitable for those who prefer to lower their premiums by opting for a deductible.

Compassionate travel

Compassionate travel is an important feature available as an add-on in both the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan and the Star Health Superstar Plan. This benefit ensures that in the event an immediate family member is far away from home and is admitted for treatment due to an emergency or life-threatening condition, the travel expenses for one family member can be claimed from the insurance company. This feature provides essential support during critical times, allowing policyholders to focus on their loved one’s recovery without worrying about the financial burden of travel costs.

By opting for this add-on, policyholders can ensure that compassionate travel is covered, providing additional peace of mind in difficult situations.

Health Checkup

Both the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan and the Star Health Insurance Superstar Plan offer the annual health checkup feature, though it is one of the least utilized. In older policies, this feature was often included by default, and insurance companies would charge for it, even though 70% of policyholders rarely used it. To address this, both plans now offer annual health checkups as optional add-ons, ensuring that only those who need it pay for it.

Under the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan, you can get an annual health checkup worth ₹5,000, while the Superstar Plan from Star Health Insurance offers coverage of up to 1% of the sum insured, with a maximum limit of ₹25,000. This provides flexibility for policyholders to choose health checkup coverage based on their specific needs.

Air Ambulance Coverage

Air ambulance coverage is available as an add-on in the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan, while the Superstar Plan includes this coverage of up to ₹5 lakhs in the standard policy itself.

Add-Ons

ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan Add-Ons

Here are the add-ons for the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan:

1. Infinite Care: Allows converting any one claim into unlimited sum insured for the entire lifetime. This option must be selected at policy inception.
2. Power Booster: Offers a 100% cumulative bonus, regardless of claims made, which can accumulate infinitely. For instance, with a ₹10 lakh policy, this add-on can potentially increase the coverage to ₹20 lakh in the next year, and so on.
3. Jumpstart: Removes waiting periods for specific pre-existing diseases, allowing coverage from the 31st day.
4. Room Modification: Offers the flexibility to upgrade or downgrade room types, affecting premiums accordingly.
5. Waiting Period Reduction: This add-on reduces the waiting period for specific diseases, pre-existing conditions, and maternity benefits.
6. Maternity Benefits: Provides maternity coverage as an optional add-on.
7. B Fit OPD Rider: Adds OPD coverage to the plan.
8. Worldwide Coverage: Extends the policy’s coverage outside India with certain conditions.
9. Personal Accident Cover: Provides a lump sum payment in case of accidental death or permanent total disability.
10. Critical Illness Cover: Pays out a lump sum upon diagnosis of any listed critical illness.
11. Convalescence Benefit & Compassionate Visit: Offers financial support for long-term hospitalization and travel expenses for immediate family members during hospitalization.
12. Durable Medical Equipment Cover: Covers the cost of durable medical equipment used during treatment, as prescribed by a doctor.
13. Claim Protector: Covers consumable non-medical items during hospitalization.

Star Health Superstar Plan Add-Ons

Here are the add-ons for the Star Health Superstar Plan:

1. Limitless Care: Converts any one claim into unlimited sum insured for the entire lifetime. This must be chosen when purchasing the policy.
2. Smart Network: Provides full claim coverage when treated at Star Health listed network hospitals. If treated outside the network, a co-payment of 15% applies. In exchange, the premium is reduced by 15%.
3. Quick Shield: Removes waiting periods for certain listed conditions, allowing coverage from the 31st day.
4. Superstar Bonus: Provides a 100% cumulative bonus every year without limit, even if no claims are made.
5. Maternity Benefits: Offers three options. Options A and B cover normal and caesarean deliveries. Option C includes assisted reproduction treatments such as IVF.
6. Women Care: Covers the newborn baby from the first day of birth, provided 12th and 20th-week pregnancy scan reports are submitted to Star Health for approval.
7. High-End Diagnostics: Covers expenses for high-end tests as part of outpatient treatment (OPD).
8. Room Rent Modification: Allows policyholders to upgrade or downgrade their room selection (e.g., from single private to twin sharing), affecting the premium.
9. Waiting Period Reduction: Reduces the waiting period for pre-existing diseases from 3 years to 24 months or 1 year, and for specific diseases, from 24 months to 12 months.
10. Hospital Cash: Offers daily cash compensation between ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 for up to 10 days during hospitalization.
11. Durable Medical Equipment: Covers up to ₹5 lakh in lifetime expenses for doctor-prescribed durable medical equipment as part of treatment.
12. Compassionate Visit: Reimburses up to ₹10,000 in travel expenses for immediate family members during hospitalization.

Apart from this, we have already discussed the voluntary co-payment and deductible options in the coverage and benefts section.

These add-ons allows policyholders to personalize according to their health and financial needs.

Waiting Period

Both the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan and the Star Health Superstar Plan have structured waiting periods for different treatments:

1. Initial Waiting Period: Both plans have a standard 30-day waiting period, where coverage is limited to accidental treatments. During this time, no other treatments are covered unless they result from an accident.
2. Waiting Period for Specific Diseases: For listed medical conditions such as surgeries and other specific treatments, a 24-month waiting period applies. However, both plans offer the option to reduce this waiting period to 12 months by choosing relevant add-ons.
3. Pre-existing Disease Waiting Period: Pre-existing conditions come with a 36-month waiting period in both plans. This, too, can be reduced to 24 or 12 months depending on the policyholder preference and add-ons selected.

Pros and Cons

Here are the pros and cons of ICICI Lombard Elevate Health Insurance Plan and Star Health Insurance Superstar Plan, based on the analysis:

ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan Pros:

1. Infinite Coverage: The plan follows a theme of “infinite,” offering unlimited sum insured, infinite reset, and infinite cumulative bonuses, which ensures abundant coverage for policyholders in case of emergencies.
2. Flexible Add-ons: This plan provides high customization through flexible add-ons. Each policyholder can tailor their policy to their specific needs, making every plan potentially unique.
3. No Maximum Entry Age: There is no capping on the entry age, providing flexibility for senior citizens.
4. Early Coverage for Pre-existing Conditions: Add-ons such as Jumpstart allow for early coverage of pre-existing conditions, along with options to reduce the waiting period for certain diseases.

ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan Cons:

1. Compulsory Add-ons: When porting the policy, some add-ons are mandatory. This lack of flexibility may result in policyholders paying for features they do not necessarily need.
2. High Premium Costs: While the add-ons offer enhanced coverage, they also increase the premium significantly. As a result, policyholders may find their costs rising beyond expectations.
3. Loading Charges: Similar to older plans, certain add-ons that provide enhanced coverage, particularly for pre-existing conditions, may come with higher premiums due to loading charges.

Star Health Insurance Superstar Plan Pros:

1. Unlimited Room Rent: There is no limit on room rent, which is a major benefit for those who may require prolonged hospital stays.
2. Freeze Your Age Feature: This innovative feature locks your health insurance premium based on your age at the time of purchase. It protects against premium increases as long as no claims are made, helping policyholders combat inflation.
3. Superstar Bonus: The plan offers a 100% cumulative bonus for every claim-free year, allowing policyholders to accumulate their sum insured to unlimited levels.
4. Discounts: The plan provides five types of discounts, which add more value to the policy.
5. Comprehensive Add-ons: The plan includes many useful add-ons, such as maternity coverage, room rent modification, and OPD coverage for high-end diagnostics.

Star Health Insurance Superstar Plan Cons:

1. Not Available Offline: Currently, the Superstar Plan is only available for purchase online, through the Policy Bazaar portal. This limits access for those who prefer agent-assisted purchases.
2. Offline Reimbursement Issues: The plan reimbursement process still relies on offline methods, which can be cumbersome in an increasingly digital world. The lack of online reimbursement could create delays and difficulties for policyholders.

Portability and Migration

When it comes to portability and migration, the ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan offers greater flexibility. You can port or migrate your existing health insurance policy to this plan, making it a favorable option for policyholders who wish to retain their accumulated benefits while switching plans.

In contrast, the Star Health Insurance Superstar Plan does not allow for policy porting or migration. This means that only new policyholders can avail of this plan, which can be a disadvantage for those who already have a policy and wish to switch. Existing policyholders will need to take out a fresh policy under the Superstar Plan, which may result in losing some benefits or facing new waiting periods.

Premium Comparison

For a premium comparison between ICICI Lombard Elevate Health Insurance Plan and Star Health Superstar Plan, here an analysis based on a family of Four (two adults aged 38 and 35, and two children aged 12 and 9) residing in Delhi with a sum insured of ₹20 lakh:

ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan:

• For the standard plan with modified room rent (any room option) and the Power Booster add-on, the annual premium for this family is ₹31,265. Prices may vary over time, but this is the current cost for this specific coverage.

Star Health Superstar Plan:

• For the same family size with a ₹20 lakh sum insured, adding only the consumables add-on in the standard plan, the annual premium is ₹31,855.
• If you further customize the plan by adding the Superstar Bonus for an unlimited cumulative bonus and opting for unlimited claims extension for the entire lifetime, the premium increases to ₹38,228 annually.

This comparison helps evaluate the features you get with each plan and the associated premium costs.

Conclusion

Both ICICI Lombard Elevate Plan and Star Health Superstar Plan are plans that offer comprehensive coverage and benefits with unique features to suit different needs. The Elevate Plan is ideal for those looking for extensive customisation through add-ons, infinite resets and flexibility in coverage. Meanwhile, the Superstar Plan stands out with features like Freeze Your Age, comprehensive cumulative bonuses and comprehensive coverage in the standard plan itself.

Your choice between these two plans should be based on your specific needs, budget and the flexibility and features you value most in a health insurance policy.

FAQs

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is intended for general informational purposes only. It is not financial, legal, or insurance advice. Please consult with a licensed insurance professional or financial advisor for specific advice tailored to your individual circumstances. The features, coverage, and pricing of insurance plans mentioned may vary, so it is essential to verify the details directly with the insurance provider.