Cancer can pose a significant financial risk because both the likelihood of a diagnosis and the cost of treatment are high. Studies indicate that one in ten Indians may be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime.. At the same time, cancer treatment has advanced rapidly. New therapies such as antibody-based drugs, gene therapies, and targeted treatments are expanding options, while medical technologies now help detect and operate on areas once beyond surgical reach. But because many of these therapies and technologies are recent, and some may still be experimental, the cost of cancer treatment in India remains very high. This reinforces cancer as a high-impact financial risk with a relatively high incidence rate. Having a health insurance safety net is crucial, especially for those with a genetic predisposition. We detail a few options for building coverage with a focus on cancer protection, along with the shortcomings of each method.

Standard insurance

A standard health insurance cover, with an emphasis on cancer protection, should have a sum insured of more than ₹50 lakh, considering the cost of treatment. Given that a ₹1-crore policy may cost around ₹15,000 a year for a 30-year-old male, compared with around ₹8,000 a year for a ₹5-lakh cover, the case for a higher cover is strong.

The cost of cancer treatment may range from a few lakh rupees to ₹25-30 lakh, depending on the therapy prescribed, the type of cancer and the medication used. Monoclonal antibodies (MABs), antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), cell and gene therapies, and CAR-T are some of the main treatments used today. These are newer treatments and many are still protected by patents. This means cheaper generic versions may not be available in India yet, though some may become available in the next few years, especially for earlier MAB and ADC drugs. Standard health insurance policies now cover the cost of these medicines under the modern treatment category, following IRDAI guidance. Earlier, many insurers treated them as experimental and did not cover them. Because these treatments are expensive, it is important to choose a standard health insurance policy with a high cover amount.

Critical Illness riders

Standard health insurance is an indemnity product, which means claims are paid based on the actual expenses incurred. This can be troublesome in two ways. As mentioned earlier, therapies deemed experimental were not covered. Also, chemotherapy may be classified as inpatient day care or outpatient treatment, depending on the procedure, with claims approved only if the policy covers that category. This shows that claim-based coverage for cancer care is subject to the insurer’s terms and conditions. A claim rejection based on any one of several policy conditions can be disastrous in cancer care. Another concern is that while actual medical expenses may be covered, cancer can affect the income of both the patient and the caregiver, which standard health insurance does not cover.

These two shortcomings can be addressed through a critical illness rider or add-on, which provides a lump-sum payment when disease-specific criteria are met for any one of 30-40 listed critical illnesses. Premiums for critical illness cover from Care Health start at ₹1,600 for a ₹25-lakh sum insured covering 32 illnesses.

A lump-sum payout of the sum insured comes with its own set of conditions, which the policyholder must understand. For cancer, policyholders should check conditions such as “first instance”, which means only the first diagnosis is covered, and “specific severity”, which refers to the disease stage or complexity required for claim admission. In Aditya Birla’s policy, for instance, 50 per cent of the sum insured is paid for early-stage cancer and 100 per cent for major-stage cancer. The policy also provides a 150 per cent payout for advanced-stage cancer.

HDFC Ergo iCan

Halfway between the two is HDFC Ergo’s iCan cancer insurance plan. This is a cancer-only insurance plan that offers a lump-sum payout on detection of cancer. The standard health insurance coverage includes conventional and advanced treatments, as well as inpatient and outpatient treatments ranging from chemotherapy to stem cell transplantation. Additionally, the policyholder can receive 60 per cent of the sum insured as a lump-sum payout if cancer of specified severity is detected, or 100 per cent for advanced-stage cancer. After the lump-sum payout for cancer is made, the standard health cover for cancer continues. However, as mentioned, this policy is specifically designed to cover cancer alone and not other conditions. There is a 120-day waiting period, which is longer than the 30-day waiting period in standard health insurance. Also, the Pre-Existing Disease (PED) conditions are marginally more stringent, as they include existing signs and symptoms at any time before the date on which the policy was issued.

While standard health insurance is an absolute necessity, critical illness riders or cancer-specific policies such as HDFC Ergo’s iCan may add more protection for the policyholder. If there is a family history of cancer, policyholders may consider adding one of these options to their coverage.

Published on June 13, 2026