🚀 Fincover® App is Now Live!
Join 10 Million+ users on web – now available on mobile!
Last updated on: May 20, 2025
The Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme Plan and Star Comprehensive with PED Buyback Rider both offer robust health insurance coverage but cater to slightly different needs. Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme stands out for higher coverage limits, no sub-limits on room rent, and value-added features like worldwide emergency hospitalization and wellness benefits. In contrast, the Star Comprehensive plan, when combined with the PED Buyback Rider, reduces waiting periods for pre-existing diseases from 36 to 12 months, making it advantageous for those with existing health issues. While both plans cover daycare treatments, maternity, and outpatient expenses, Royal Sundaram offers a broader international cover and wellness services, whereas Star Health’s plan provides flexibility through customizable riders. Ultimately, the choice depends on personal priorities—global coverage and wellness with Royal Sundaram versus reduced PED waiting periods with Star Comprehensive’s PED Buyback Rider.
Author
Read Bio
Reviewed by
Read BioIndian families would be more concerned about the type of health insurance they need in 2025 than ever before. As the cost of hospitalization increases, along with unforeseen health issues, and the prevalence of lifestyle diseases, the best mediclaim policy is something that is informed. Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme Plan and the Star Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan with the PED (Pre Existing Disease) Buyback Rider are two of the most popular products available in the market.
Both plans will offer a wide range of cover, access to the best hospitals and less hassles in settling claims. But which plan is more valuable to you and your family this year? This article provides a detailed comparison of Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme and Star Comprehensive Health Plan with PED Buyback on coverages, benefits, waiting period, rent of rooms, inclusions, policy limits etc. And we can assist you in the right family health insurance in 2025.
These two health insurance plans are meant to cover medical emergencies in terms of hospitalization, surgeries, day care treatments, pre and post hospitalization, critical illness. The PED Buyback Rider makes Star Comprehensive more flexible by helping to shorten the waiting period on pre-existing diseases.
Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme will concentrate on families and individuals who are interested in high covers, emergency hospitalization across the globe and yearly health checks. Star Comprehensive with PED Buyback brands itself as a better pre-existing coverage and all in one medical insurance.
Did you know? Almost half of Indian health insurance purchasers in 2024 selected plans with a zero-room rent ceiling and a shorter PED waiting time to receive treatment without any hassles.
The question is what makes the two policies unique in 2025.
Case Study: Mr Sharma, a 40 year old man with his spouse and two children, has selected Lifeline Supreme due to the international coverage of treatment. But his friend, Mrs Patel, chose to use Star with PED Buyback because his diabetes required a plan that had a shorter waiting period to get covered.
Expert Insight: It can be helpful when the families had known pre-existing problems, and PED Buyback rider could be useful and healthy, higher SI and global hospitalisation facility could be useful.
We will deconstruct it so that you can make straight choices:
Cons
Cons
Which plan in 2025 has the shortest waiting period on pre-existing diseases?
Under the PED Buyback rider, waiting time under Star Comprehensive can be as short as 12 or 24 months (Royal Sundaram has wait of 36 months default period).
Did you know? By 2025, more than 20 percent of novel health policy purchasers in urban India select plans with additional restoration and foreign medical care.
Here’s a practical example:
Sample Annual Premiums Family 2 Adults + 2 Kids (32, 30, 7, 3) SI 10 lakh (as per 2025 pricing):
| Policy | Annual Premium (estimated) | PED Wait | Restoration | Maternity | Out-patient cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme | Rs 19,500 | 36M | 100 | No | No |
| Star Comprehensive + PED Buyback | Rs 23,800 | 12/24M | 100 | Yes (0M) | Yes |
Note: Premium differs depending on the regions, age, etc. And you should always compare the rates available online in reliable insurance comparison sites before purchasing.
Will global medical insurance be of use to Indian families?
Yes, when you or loved ones go on holiday or business trip to some foreign country, global hospitalisation can save your life in case of an emergency.
Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme and Star Comprehensive eliminate room rent capping in the year 2025. It will allow you to select any hospital room (suite, single, or deluxe) without being constrained by cost. This is an important advantage in India, where the cost of hospitals is on the increase.
Star Comprehensive PED Buyback is a maternity, baby first day cover. This is appealing to many policyholders particularly young couples who are intending to start families in the near future.
Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme, in turn, only has maternity as the optional add-on, and a standard waiting period unless stated otherwise.
Star Comprehensive includes the costs of the OPD (doctor visits, diagnostics, and pharmaceutical bills) to a predetermined quantity per year.
Lifeline Supreme offered by Royal Sundaram does not cover OPD unless you purchase a separate rider.
Pro Tip: When you visit the doctor frequently or when you require frequent tests, the Comprehensive plan offered by Star will cover additional OPD costs.
Is Star PED Buyback available upon policy commencement?
No, you must select PED Buyback at the time of policy inception; cannot be added halfway.
Royal Sundaram has a digitized claim settlement system and more than 11,000 cashless hospital tie ups in India.
With 14,000 hospitals nation-wide, Star Health enjoys one of the largest networks, and that translates to improved reach, particularly in metro and tier-2 towns. Both claim hassle-free as per the customer reviews.
Did you know? According to the latest IRDAI data, Star Health registered an average cashless claim settlement of less than 2 hours as at Q1 2025.
Both policies include regular preventive health check-ups: once every year of all insured members. Royal Sundaram also has healthcare rewards such as using wellness programs or attending health check-ups to earn reward points.
| Parametric | Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme | Star Comprehensive + PED Buyback |
|---|---|---|
| Sum Insured | 5L - 50L | 5L - 1 crore |
| PED Waiting Period | 36 months | 12/24 months (rider) |
| Room Rent | Any | Any |
| Maternity / Newborn | Add-on (wait period) | Included (0 month) |
| International Coverage | Yes (Emergency) | No |
| OPD Cover | No | Yes |
| Air Ambulance | No | Yes |
| AYUSH | Yes | Yes |
| Restoration | 100 percent | 100 percent |
| No Claim Bonus | max 150 | max 100 |
Professional Tip: Star can be a viable solution when you need outpatient coverage or when you are pregnant. Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme can hardly be challenged when it comes to travel protection and higher no claim bonus.
So which is more suitable when it comes to international medical emergencies?
Better is Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme, which covers emergency hospitalisation overseas up to the sum insured.
The two policies provide both value added services and optional covers that include:
By 2025, the personalisation of health plans with these types of add-ons is a matter of a few button presses - you can compare and purchase these policies and their riders on reputable online insurance markets to obtain objective quotations and verify personalised offers.
Did you know? Over 65 percent of consumers in 2025 will consult online aggregator platforms to compare features, premium, and network hospitals instantly and then buy them.
So what policy should be used in maternity in 2025?
Star Comprehensive including PED Buyback offers maternity starting the first day and thus is best suited to new or expecting couples.
But how do I know a PED will be covered in the near future?
When you choose the PED Buyback offered by Star, you can receive pre-existing conditions coverage after 12 or 24 months instead of 36 in most plans.
Is it possible to take these policies to other insurers in the future?
Yes you may port both policies under IRDAI portability rules, underwriting may apply.
What do you mean by cashless claim on these plans?
Just present your e-card at any network hospital; insurer will make the settlement arrangements with the hospital.
What about the case of emergency treatment abroad?
It is insured by Royal Sundaram during eventualities, but you are required to inform their assistance team to get it done.
In what place can I draw a parallelogram between Royal Sundaram Supreme and Star Comprehensive and PED Buyback?
Compare real-time online insurance marketplace premiums, benefits, network hospitals and add-ons with top online insurance marketplaces.
How could we improve this article?
Written by Prem Anand, a content writer with over 10+ years of experience in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance sectors.
Prem Anand is a seasoned content writer with over 10+ years of experience in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance sectors. He has a strong command of industry-specific language and compliance regulations. He specializes in writing insightful blog posts, detailed articles, and content that educates and engages the Indian audience.
The content is prepared by thoroughly researching multiple trustworthy sources such as official websites, financial portals, customer reviews, policy documents and IRDAI guidelines. The goal is to bring accurate and reader-friendly insights.
This content is created to help readers make informed decisions. It aims to simplify complex insurance and finance topics so that you can understand your options clearly and take the right steps with confidence. Every article is written keeping transparency, clarity, and trust in mind.
Based on Google's Helpful Content System, this article emphasizes user value, transparency, and accuracy. It incorporates principles of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).
Loved by 1M+ users. Start your financial journey today!
