Common Health Insurance Terms You Should Know

Posted on: Jul 28, 2025 | 3 mins | Written by: HDFC ERGO Team

Common Health Insurance Terms You Should Know

Health insurance can offer peace of mind, but understanding the policy itself can sometimes feel overwhelming. With so many plans available and a range of unfamiliar terms in the documents, it’s easy to feel lost. Words like “deductible,” “co-pay,” or “daycare treatment” may seem confusing at first, but they play a big role in how your coverage works.

Health Insurance Terms You Should Know

Though the list of common health insurance terms you should know is quite exhaustive, we have covered some of the must-know ones here:

• Insured Person

This denotes a person whose name is mentioned under the heading, policyholder.

• Insurance Period

This is the tenure of the policy, with the starting date and ending date mentioned in the policy document.

• Hospitalisation

This term refers to your stay in a hospital or any medical facility for a minimum period of 24 hours. You qualify for cashless treatment if you choose one of the network hospitals.

• Pre-Hospitalisation and Post-Hospitalisation

Pre-hospitalisation refers to all the medical expenses incurred before hospitalisation. Post-hospitalisation refers to all the medical expenses incurred after hospitalisation. These expenses are covered only if they are included in the policy’s terms.

• Domiciliary Hospitalisation

Here, the insured gets medical treatment or care at their homes, instead of a hospital or medical facility. Insurance companies cover these charges only if the insured is not in a position to be taken to a hospital, or if there are not enough beds in the hospitals.

• Day Care Treatment

These are treatments, surgical or other medical processes that doctors perform for conditions that don’t require 24-hour hospitalisation. All the procedures that are included and excluded under this category are mentioned in the policy document.

• Entry Age

This is the minimum age at which you can buy medical insurance. Currently, most plans have an entry age of 90-91 days.

• Free Look Period

This is the first 30 days after you buy medical insurance. During this period, you can look through your plan in detail and cancel/switch it without paying anything extra. Your insurance service provider will refund the entire premium you paid if you cancel or switch policies within this free look period.

Conclusion

Knowing all the terminologies used in medical insurance can be quite a time-consuming process. However, when you buy a plan, it is a good idea to go through the policy terms in detail and know the meaning of every single word printed in the terms to know what to expect from your policy.

FAQs

1. What do you mean by exclusions in health insurance?

Exclusions refer to the conditions for which you are not eligible for coverage under your medical insurance plan. You will have to pay for these out of your own pocket.

2. How many types of health insurance plans are available currently?

The four most popular health insurance types are individual plans, family floater plans, senior citizen plans and critical illness plans.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purposes only. For more details, please refer to the policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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