Health Insurance or Mediclaim insurance is a must-have for all. Considering the rate at which medical costs are rising, it is very important to have sufficient medical insurance coverage. Absence of health insurance may wipe out your savings. Having sufficient coverage will safeguard you and your dependents from getting into financial crisis during hospitalization or critical illnesses’ treatments or accidents.
Besides medical coverage, health insurance plans can provide Tax benefits to you. In this post, let us understand the Tax deduction benefits that are available for Health Insurance (or) Mediclaim plans.
The premium paid towards medical insurance is tax deductible under section 80D (u/s 80D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
You can claim tax deductions, provided you are paying the premium on a mediclaim policy which is in the name of
Health insurance premium paid for Self, Spouse or dependent children is tax deductible upto Rs 25,000. Earlier the limit was Rs 15,000 and this limit has been increased to Rs 25,000 in Budget 2015-2016. If any one of the persons specified is a senior citizen and Mediclaim Insurance premium is paid for such senior citizen then the deduction amount now is Rs. 30,000. From Financial Year 2015-2016, this limit is increased to Rs 30,000 from Rs 20,000 (applicable in FY 2014-2015).
Below table shows you the quantum of tax deductions applicable on health insurance premiums. The below limits are applicable for Financial Year 2017-2018 (or) Assessment Year (2018-2019).
Let us understand the above scenarios with couple of examples..
Example 1 : Mr Reddy (30 years) has employer’s mediclaim coverage. He pays Rs 8,000 as premium. The coverage is applicable for Mr & Mrs Reddy and their son. He has also included his parents (father 55 years & mother 52 years) under his employer’s medical insurance scheme. For parents coverage he pays Rs 16,000. He wants to know how much he can claim as total tax deduction under Section 80d?
Since no one in the family has attained 60 years of age, Mr Reddy can claim a tax deduction of Rs 24,000 (Rs 8000 + Rs 16,000).
Example 2 : Mr Gupta (45 years) is a self-employed person. He has taken Health insurance plan and pays a premium of Rs 26,000. He also pays Rs 31,000 towards his parents’ coverage ( his Father’s age is 62 years & mother’s age is 58 years). What is the total tax deduction application in his case?
Mr Gupta can claim a total tax deduction of Rs 55,000 only (Rs 25,000 + Rs 30,000)
Important points on Medical insurance policies & Tax benefits
Preventive Health checkup & Section 80D
Preventive health checkup (Medical checkups) expenses to the extent of Rs5,000/- can be claimed as tax deductions. Remember, this is not over and above the individual limits as explained above.
Example – Mr Mehta (65 years) has mediclaim policy and paid Rs 25,000 as premium . He also spent Rs 6,000 towards health check-up. He wants to know what is the total tax deductible amount?
Since he is a senior citizen, the medical insurance premium to the extent of Rs 30,000 can be claimed as tax deduction under Section 80D. Even though he incurred Rs 31,000 ( Rs 25 k + 6k) as expenses, he can only claim tax deduction to the extent of Rs 30,000 only.
Budget 2015 : Deduction u/s 80D on health insurance premium will be Rs 25,000, increased from Rs 15000. For Senior Citizens it has been increased to Rs 30,000 from the existing Rs 20,000. For very senior citizen above the age of 80 years, not eligible to take health insurance, deduction is allowed for Rs 30,000 toward medical expenditure.
Difference between Mediclaim (Section 80d) & Medical Allowance (Section 10):
Do not get confused between your medical reimbursement allowance and mediclaim expenses. Medical allowance is provided by your employer. It is part of your employment agreement (salary structure) between your employer and yourself.
You can get medical allowance upto Rs 15,000 as an exempted income from your Gross salary. To claim this, you need to submit medical bills to your employer and get the allowance benefit. The medical reimbursement allowance is exempted under Section 10 of the Income Tax Act.
If you have submitted medical bills (to your employer) towards medical allowance and also paid premium towards your mediclaim (health insurance) then both of them will be listed in your Form-16 under different sections as shown below (click on the images to open them in new browser window).
(Continuing with Mr Mehta’s case, Mr Mehta incurred Rs 6000 as medical check-up costs. Upto Rs 5000 can be part of his tax deduction under Section 80d as mediclaim premium and the remaining Rs 1000 can be exempted under Section 10D as medical allowance provided he is employed).
If your employer provides medical insurance then in most of the cases it is automatically included in your Form-16. If you have independent mediclaim policies (or) you hold medical insurance plan as a self-employed person then do not forget to claim tax deductions. Show your medical insurance premiums under Section 80D while filing Income Tax Returns.
Budget 2018-19 Update :
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Please share your comments. (Image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
This post was last modified on July 10, 2023 12:02 pm
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View Comments
Hi Mr. Reddy,
Will you please reply to below query raised as below:
SHRIKANT DAMANI says September 14, 2015 at 1:13 pm
Dear Deepak,
I was out of work during that period hence could not reply to SHRIKANT DAMANI.
My Reply is : Yes,he can claim 50% of the premium as it is deducted from his salary.
Hi There,
I have bought a family floater plan which includes me, my Dad and my Mom in a single policy. Both Mom and Dad are under 60 years age. I have paid amount of Rs. 28765 for this policy. Also, I have one other policy for which I have paid Rs. 5000. In total how much amount comes under section 80 D?
Thanks,
Pardeep Verma
Dear Pardeep,
Let me know your age. It is advisable to have separate family floater plan for parents (considering their age & health profiles).
Read : Best portals to compare health insurance plans.
You can claim Rs 5k + Rs 25 k = Rs 30k.
I am planning to take a medical insurance for my parents in Oriental bank which offers a less premium for their savings accounts holders. My father has a savings account already with oriental bank and he ready to pay for the medical insurance offered by them. Could i show this premium paid amount for my income tax exemption? However the premium will be debited from my fathers account only. Please clarify
Dear Ashok,
Kindly note that you can claim tax deductions, provided YOU are paying the premium on a mediclaim policy.
My father age is 59 completed 60 running. mothers age is 56 completed. My age : 30 years
I pay a premium of 29942((includes ST of 3479 Rs) towards family floater policy which just includes me and my parents.
What is the total tax deduction application in this case?
Dear Nilesh,
It is advisable not to include an younger person in parents' family floater policy.
You can have taken a stand-alone plan.
If your father has attained 60 years of age, you can claim entire premium amount (excluding ST).
Kindly read:
Best Family floater health insurance plans.
Now i have already paid premimun in this policy.
So what i want to know how much is the tax deduction I can claim this FY? ie Rs 25000 or (29942-3479)
Dear Nilesh..Rs 26,463 can be claimed.
Recently my father was hospitalised and I claimed for medical bills with insurance company.The transaction was done.Do I have to do anything from my end to ensure the claimed amount is tax free from my salary? Also medical allowance once claimed witll be automatically taxt free or do I have to do anything for the same?
Dear Ruchi..Claim amount received on health insurance plan is a tax free income. Nothing else to be done from your side.
Recently I got Ill and claimed amount from my Employer tie up insurance company and transaction was successfull. Can I apply same bill under Medical Allowance Section 10?
Hi,
Insurance companies collect premium for 2 years at a time .they also indicate premium for each financial years separately. Can 80 d deduction be claimed for each financial year separately if paid by cheque
Thanks
Dear Ram,
It is to be claimed in the year of payment ,whether it relates to 2 years or more .Deduction will be available in the year of payment only.
My employer is paying medi-claim premium through Group medi-claim policy which includes our family. 50% of the premium amount is being deducted from my salary. 50% is borne by the company.
Can I claim the 50% amount of the premium deducted from my salary under 80D, Please note I do not have any supporting as such like receipt of premium paid in my name, however the same can be incorporated in FORM 16, if claimable under 80D.
Please guide.
Dear Shrikant,
Yes, you can claim 50% of the premium as it is deducted from your salary.
I had a taken a medical illness policy in 2014. I paid a single premium of Rs.77826 and claimed the tax exemption of Rs.15000 in the last year. The policy duration is 2014-19. Shall I claim the exemption under 80-D in the subsequent amount for the remaining amount.
Thanks in Advance
Dear Anil..I believe that you can not claim the balance amount as tax exemption.
Thanks for your detailed info.
I have 15k of medical insurance premium under 80d. I have also medical allowance of 24k. Can I claim that fully in ITR? Under which section we have to keep?
I haven't submitted medical reciepts to Employer yet.
Dear Shanka,
Medical premium of Rs 15 k can be claimed under section 80D.
You can get medical allowance of up to Rs 15,000 as an exempted income from your Gross salary. To claim this, you need to submit medical bills to your employer and get the allowance benefit. The medical reimbursement allowance is exempted under Section 10 of the Income Tax Act.
I am filing income tax return assessment year 2015-16 , in my form 16 they write amount spent by me against medi claim policy 16566 and qualify amount 15000. Now when going to file online income tax if I write 16566 it take the same amount what I have to put 16566 or 15000 , because my age is 41
Dear Amanpreet..The maximum allowable limit is Rs 15k, so ITR will consider up to Rs 15 k only.