In this article, I’ve compared two of the most popular health insurance policies from Star Health Insurance—SuperStar and Assure Health Insurance. SuperStar is a newly launched policy available exclusively online through PolicyBazaar or the Star Health website. On the other hand, the Assure policy can be purchased both online and offline, including through agents.
Below is a table comparing the basic and optional features of these policies.
| Basic covers | SuperStar | Assure |
|---|---|---|
| Sum insured Options | Policy available in as low as 5 lakh sum insured and also offer unlimited Sum insured option | 5L to 2Cr Sum insured options |
| Policy tenure (Long tenure protects premium from frequent revision by insurance comp.) | 5 Yr tenure also available | Long term policy available max up to 3 Yr |
| Room Rent Limit | Any Room Category. No capping on room rent. Even a 5Lakh policy has No room rent capping | 5lakh policy – 5k per day limit. Only high Sum insured like 50L/75L/100L policy have no room capping. |
| Pre/Post Hospitalisation expenses | 90/180 Days extra 30 Days pre Hospitlalisation expenses compared to Assure | 60/180 Days |
| Home Care Treatment | For 12 Listed conditions, covered up to Sum Insured | 13 Listed conditions, covered up to 10% of the sum insured subject to maximum of Rs.5 lakhs. Additional condition- Chronic Severe Refractory Asthma (by Advanced Medicine)] |
| Premium waiver on next renewal | If insured person is diagnosed with Critical illness (First time) or Die due to accident (Floater/multi individual policy), premium of rest of family members is waived off in next renewal. | Not Available |
| Cumulative Bonus | For each claim free year, sum insured increases by 50% per year and max up to 100% of sum insured | For each claim free year, sum insured increases by 25% per year and max up to 100% of sum insured |
| Waiting periods | Pre-existing diseases – 36 Months | Pre-existing diseases – 30 months (3 yr policy), 36 months (1 & 2 yr Policy) |
| Specific Diseases – 24 months, *policy also have option to reduce these waiting period | Specific Diseases – 24 months, No option to reduce waiting periods. | |
| Freeze Your Age | A person premium is fixed at entry age and charged same each year until he/she makes a claim or turns 56 yr old. For this person has to buy policy before 50 yr age. | Not Available |
| Dental check-up & Cleaning | Policy covers basic dental expenses like consultation, cleaning of teeth, X-rays etc from 2nd policy onwards | Not Available |
| Rehabilitation and Pain Management | Not Available | Medical expenses for Rehabilitation and Pain Management up to the sub-limit (Average 60k) OR maximum up to 20% of the sum insured |
| Optional covers (In SuperStar Policy) | SuperStar | Assure |
| Quick Shield (Optional cover) | If person has any of 5 conditions (Diabetes, Hypertension, Asthma, Hyperlipidaemia, Asthma, Coronary artery disease with PTCA done prior to 1 Yr) as pre-existing diseases, by opting quick shield these conditions stands covered from 31st day of policy | Not Available |
| Coverage for non-medical items (Optional cover) | List 1 Consumable items become payable – like gloves, masks, diapers, baby food etc | Covered as part of Standard policy |
| Maternity Expenses (Optional cover) | Option A – 24 Months waiting 50k/1L per delivery Option B – 12 Months waiting 30K per delivery Option C – Assisted Reproduction Treatment (1L to 4L) | Delivery & ART expenses as part of standard policy 10% of SI per delivery ART – 1L to 4L |
| New Born Cover (Optional cover) | 2L to 5L (Based on Sum insured opted) | 2L to 4L (Based on Sum insured opted) |
| In Utero Fetal Surgery/Intervention | Not Available | After 24 Months waiting period following surgeries stand covered. Open Fetal Surgery 2) Fetendo Fetal Surgery 3) Fetal Image-Guided Surgery (FIGS-IT) 4) EXIT procedure |
| Annual Health Check Up (Optional cover) | Up to 1% of Sum Insured & maximum of Rs.25,000/- in a policy year. This annual health check-up limit can also be utilized for vaccination expenses | Available as part of standard cover but with lower limits. Available Irrespective of claim but can’t be used for vaccination expenses |
| Reduction of PED Waiting Period (Optional cover) | By opting this cover you can reduce your pre-existing diseases waiting period from 36 months to 12/24 months. However this is for diseases/conditions other than mentioned under quick shield optional cover. | Not Available |
| Reduction of Specific Diseases Waiting Period (Optional cover) | By opting this cover you can reduce your specific diseases waiting period from 24 months to 12 months. However this is for diseases/conditions other than mentioned under quick shield optional cover. | Not Available |
| Limitless Care (Optional cover) | Pays any one claim during the lifetime of the Policy without any limits on the Sum Insured | Not Available |
| Super Star Bonus (Guaranteed Bonus) (Optional cover) | Additional Cumulative Bonus of 100% of SI each year and there is no limit on accumulation | Not Available |
| High-end Diagnostics (Optional cover) | Few High end diagnostics tests are payable on OPD basis if required as a part of a treatment up to Rs.25,000 in a policy like – Brain Perfusion Imaging, CT guided biopsy, CT urography, Digital Subtraction Angiography(DSA) etc. | Not Available |
| Treatment in selected Network (Optional cover in SuperStar and default cover in Assure) | if you opt this cover and take treatment in smart network hospitals- 15% discount in premium and 15% co-pay if treatment is taken outside smart network | This cover is available with different name in Assure policy. Valuable network – 1% of Sum Insured subject to a maximum of Rs.5,000/- per policy period is payable as lump sum if treatment is taken in valuable network. No co-pay if treatment taken in other than valuable network hospital. |
Besides these, the SuperStar policy also offers several optional covers, such as the choice of deductible and co-payment, inclusion of a spouse without a waiting period (Future Shield), Personal Accident Cover, and Durable Medical Equipment Cover. However, since these are not as significant, I haven’t focused on explaining them in this post.
Both policies share several common terms. The table below lists all such terms.
| Common Terms | SuperStar | Assure |
|---|---|---|
| Day care treatments | Covered | |
| Modern treatments | 12 Modern treatments/procedures covered up to SI | |
| AYUSH | Up to sum insured | |
| Road ambulance | Covered on actuals | |
| Organ donor expenses | Covered. Also Redo surgery if required for donor due to complications | |
| Second opinion | Covered | |
| Domiciliary Hospitalisation | Covered | |
| Automatic restoration of sum insured | Sum Insured will be restored unlimited number of times and maximum up to 100% each time, which can be utilized for a subsequent hospitalization. | |
| The Restored Sum Insured can be used for all claims including for modern treatment, but for a subsequent hospitalization. | ||
| Star Wellness programme | Max discount 20% |
By now, you probably have a clear idea of which policy stands out. The SuperStar policy, with its 21 optional covers, offers great flexibility, allowing you to customize your coverage as per your needs. Even maternity cover is optional, so if you don’t need it, you can save on your premium by not opting for it.
One of the biggest advantages of SuperStar is that you can reduce your waiting period to almost NIL with the Quick Shield optional cover—something that Assure policy doesn’t offer.
Beyond just flexibility, SuperStar also provides room rent coverage without any capping. This means you can choose any hospital room category of your choice, even with a sum insured as low as ₹5 lakh—something no other policy currently offers. With this, you won’t have to worry about proportionate deductions due to a higher room category, which is a common issue in other policies. While Assure policy does offer decent room rent coverage, it still falls short of SuperStar’s terms.
Another major advantage of SuperStar is its wider pre-hospitalization coverage—offering 90 days instead of the 60 days that Assure provides. Plus, the Freeze Your Age feature helps you save on premiums for years, as long as you don’t make a claim or turn 56.
With comparable premiums, SuperStar offers extensive coverage, but it’s important not to get carried away by choosing all optional covers. Pick only what’s truly necessary. Essential covers like Consumables Cover (Non-Medical Items Cover) and Annual Health Check-up are a must-have for comprehensive protection.
The premium chart for SuperStar is not available on the Star Health website. For the Assure policy, I’ve provided a line graph showing premium variations across different age groups and sum insured options for an individual in the Delhi NCR region. You can clearly see how the premiums jump significantly after the 51-55 age slab.
That said, the Assure policy offers a package with no hassle of choosing optional covers like SuperStar, and at a lower premium. For those already holding the Assure policy, it’s important to compare premiums with SuperStar before deciding to port. If the premium for Assure is still lower, it might be best to stick with Assure, as many of the optional covers in SuperStar are already included as default in Assure. Changing policies in that case wouldn’t make much sense.
