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
Dear Sir,
I had paid medical treatment exps for myself rs-15000 and for my parents rs-20000, under which section i can take benefit.
Regards
Adil
And employer mention in my salary description detail, Medical Allowance -15000
Dear Mohd..You can claim them under section 10 by submitting the bills to your employer.
On 31st March 17, I had revised my ITR-1 and claim under deduction 80 d,
Is it correct or incorrect
Please clarify as request
Dear Mohd ..You can claim medical insurance premium paid and/or expenses incurred for health check ups u/s 80d.
If you have claimed medical allowance u/s 80d, then it is incorrect.
HI
I have paid for a health insurance on 25th of march 2017, can i claim it in next financial year ? or should i have to claim it in the current financial year itself ?
Regards
Dear REGHU,
It is applicable for FY 2016-17 only.
I am a Retd. PSU Bank Official and drawing monthly Pension. Group Mediclaim Policy of United India Insurance Co. Ltd. has been taken by Indian Banks Association (IBA) on behalf of all Indian PSU Banks for both serving employees & ex-employees. Whether Premium under this Policy deducted from my Pension Account by my Employer Bank is deductible u/Sec 80D?
Dear Ranjit Ji,
I believe that you can claim the premium paid u/s 80D.
iss that Doctor consultancy fee receipt,without doctor pescription medical store bills,dental checkup,optic will consider for tax benefit
Dear Anu..Are you referring to Medical allowance? If yes, then can be submitted.
I am a diabetic patient, my age about 57 years. I have senior citizen parents. I want to know how much exemption/ eligible in income tax benefit under section 80D
Dear MOHAN ...Are you or your parents covered with any Medical insurance cover?
Sir, whether the expenditure, incurred for the purpose of Medical Treatment by the Single Son of a ailing, senior citizen and widow mother, is liable to get Tax deduction?
Dear Satinath,
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.
Read: Income tax deductions list.
Hi,
I have bought a medical insurance policy for 3 years and have paid consolidated premium amount for all three years coverage. Now I need to avail tax benefits under 80/D. Insurance company won't provide each year premium.
Pls suggest me how to proceed.
Dear Kumar..Yes, you can claim only one time, in the FY in which you paid the premium amount.
please clarify whether we need to keep bills/receipts for claiming expenses upto Rs 5000
towards preventive health checkups as I paid the same in cash.
Dear Vasudeva Rao..Yes, you need to keep them for future use (if any).
Hi Sreenath Reddy ,
I have not taken any Medical Insurance .My company has asked me to provide the Insurance ?Investment details .As i have not taken any Insurance it is possible for me to take a new one and claim it during this FY itself?
Yes, it is possible dear Parameswar.
Kindly read:
Best portals to compare Health insurance plans.
Evaluate these factors when buying a health plan.
How do I prove that a test is not prescribed by a doctor? If the reports state the test referred by as 'Self', will that suffice. I had done a master checkup and some related tests on my own as prevention in Sep 2015. The assessment for this year 2016-17 is also over and refund received. Can I revise and claim this deduction now? I may not have the bill but I have all the reports. Can I claim now and what will the procedure be? Kindly advise.
Also this year I have done some tests on my own but they are not master health checkups. I presume they should also qualify. Please confirm.
Thank you
Dear Geetha,
Test referred by as 'self' also should be fine.
As the assessment has been done, you can REVISE your ITR now.
Yes, you can claim up to Rs5k for AY 2017-18 also.
Thank you