# Health Insurance Premium Increase on Renewal: What to Do > Renewal premiums rose 25-41% in 2026 despite zero GST. Why your health insurance premium jumped and five ways to cut it without losing cover. - **Published**: 2026-10-18 - **Modified**: 2026-10-18 - **Category**: health-insurance - **URL**: https://www.tldr.money/articles/health-insurance/health-insurance-premium-increase-renewal --- New to choosing cover? Start with the [health insurance guide](/health-insurance). This page explains the **health insurance premium increase on renewal** that many families are seeing in 2026, and what you can do about it. ## How big are the 2026 renewal hikes? Moneycontrol reported on 6 October 2026 that broker data shows renewal premiums going up by 25-41% this year. That is a year after GST on individual life and health policies, including family floaters and senior citizen plans, was cut from 18% to nil from 22 September 2025. The GST saving was a one-time drop. It does not stop insurers from raising the base premium, and insurers cite medical inflation for the increases. The regulator has noticed. In an interview with BusinessLine published on 11 October, IRDAI chairman Ajay Seth said: "Medical inflation and rising healthcare costs are real, but they cannot explain every increase." He said the planned Public Insurance Registry will show how often, and by how much, each insurer revises premiums. ## Why your health insurance premium increased on renewal Before you react, work out which of these is behind your number: 1. **The insurer revised the whole product.** The rate table for everyone on that plan went up. This is the main driver of the 2026 increases. 2. **Someone crossed an age band.** Premiums are priced by age bands, so a birthday can bump the price even when rates do not change. 3. **You changed the policy.** A higher sum insured, a new rider or adding a family member costs more. 4. **A discount lapsed.** A first-year, multi-year or online discount may not repeat. Your renewal notice or the insurer's helpline can tell you which applies. If the base rates went up, shopping around helps. If an age band changed, every insurer will charge more. ## Your rights at renewal IRDAI's Master Circular on Health Insurance Business (May 2024) gives you more leverage than most people realise: - **Renewal is guaranteed.** An insurer cannot refuse renewal because you made claims in earlier years. It can refuse only for established fraud, non-disclosure or misrepresentation, or if the product is withdrawn. If the product is withdrawn, you must be offered a migration option. - **No fresh underwriting.** The insurer cannot re-assess your health at renewal unless you raise the sum insured, and then only for the increase. - **30 days of grace.** For annual premiums you get 30 days after the due date, and renewing within that window protects all your credits. - **Portability with credits.** You can move to another insurer and carry over your sum insured, no-claim bonus, specific waiting periods, pre-existing disease waiting periods and moratorium period. The old insurer must share your data within 72 hours, and the new insurer must decide within 5 days of getting it. Our [portability guide](/articles/health-insurance/health-insurance-portability) has the step-by-step process and dates. ## Five ways to cut the premium without losing protection ### 1. Get a porting quote Get quotes for the same sum insured from two or three other insurers, using your current policy's waiting-period status. Porting is worth it when the saving is large and the new policy's room-rent limits, co-pay and sub-limits are no worse. Do not port just before a planned treatment. ### 2. Split cover into a base policy plus a super top-up A large single policy is often dearer than a smaller base policy plus a [super top-up](/glossary/super-top-up), which pays once your total claims in a year cross a threshold. See [top-up vs super top-up](/articles/health-insurance/super-top-up-vs-top-up). The [how much health insurance cover](/articles/health-insurance/how-much-health-insurance-cover) guide shows how to size each layer. ### 3. Consider a voluntary deductible A [deductible](/glossary/deductible) means you pay the first slice of each claim or year yourself, in return for a lower premium. It suits people with an employer policy or savings that can absorb that slice. ### 4. Rethink who sits on the floater If one older member is driving the price up, separate policies can cost less than one shared floater. See [family floater vs individual policy](/articles/health-insurance/family-floater-vs-individual-policy-india). ### 5. Look hard at co-pay plans Business Standard reported on 5 October that insurers discussed an industry-wide 10% co-pay on retail inpatient claims at the General Insurance Council. It is unlikely to get IRDAI approval and raises cartelisation concerns. Products with 10-30% co-pay already exist. Co-pay lowers the premium but makes you pay part of every claim, including large ones, so in our view a deductible is usually the cleaner trade if you can afford one. Our [co-pay vs deductible guide](/articles/health-insurance/co-pay-vs-deductible) runs the numbers. ## What IRDAI is changing IRDAI's September 2026 consultation paper proposes caps on the commissions insurers pay, partly because commissions grew faster than premiums. Our explainer on the [IRDAI commission cap proposal](/articles/health-insurance/irdai-commission-cap-consultation-paper) covers what it could mean for future premiums. Seth also said comprehensive claims reforms are planned for 2027-28. ## Sources - Moneycontrol, health insurance premiums one year after GST removal, 6 Oct 2026: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/personal-finance/how-health-insurance-premiums-have-changed-one-year-after-gst-removal-14044892.html - Business Standard, insurers' 10% co-pay plan may not get IRDAI nod, 5 Oct 2026: https://www.business-standard.com/finance/insurance/insurers-10-co-pay-plan-for-retail-health-claims-may-not-get-irdai-nod-126100500945_1.html - BusinessLine, interview with IRDAI chairman Ajay Seth, 11 Oct 2026: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/focus-on-actual-payouts-not-just-claim-settlement-ratios-irdai-chairman/article71570532.ece - IRDAI, Master Circular on Health Insurance Business, 29 May 2024 (renewal, grace period, migration, portability clauses) - Department of Financial Services, GST exemption on individual life and health insurance policies: https://financialservices.gov.in/exemption-gst-all-individual-life-insurance-and-health-insurance-policies --- - [More health-insurance articles](https://www.tldr.money/articles/category/health-insurance) - [All articles](https://www.tldr.money/articles)