Salary and retirement

NPS Swasthya: how the new NPS health account works, premium and charges

NPS Swasthya, live since 1 October 2026, links an NPS account with family super top-up health cover. Who can join, the costs and the withdrawal rules.

By Saifu team · 21 October 2026 · 3 min read · Reviewed by Chandan Kumar Dash

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NPS Swasthya is a new kind of NPS account for health costs. PFRDA's rules for it came out on 18 September 2026, and the Department of Financial Services launched it on 1 October 2026, NPS Diwas. It joins two things: an NPS account where your money is invested, and a compulsory super top-up health insurance policy for your family. Here is how it works, from PFRDA's own page and FAQs.

Who can join

Anyone who can open an NPS account. You do not need an existing NPS account.
The health policy covers you, your spouse and up to 2 dependent children. Parents are not covered.
You can join the policy between 18 and 70 years of age and renew it up to age 85.
You enrol on npscentral.in. The cover starts within one working day of enrolment and payment.

It is a separate account. Your existing NPS account stays as it is.

What it costs

To start: the first-year insurance premium with GST, ₹200 plus GST a year to the health benefit administrator, and at least ₹1,000 for investment.
Later contributions: as low as ₹10.
Running charges: the normal NPS charges, plus up to 0.08% a year of the NPS Swasthya balance plus GST, and the ₹200 yearly fee.
Premium: set by the insurer by age band. For the ₹30 lakh cover with a ₹3 lakh deductible, the premium is ₹1,732 a year for ages 18 to 40, ₹2,523 for 41 to 60 and ₹4,953 for 61 to 70, according to PFRDA data reported by Mint. You can pay renewal premiums from the account balance.

The health cover options

The policy is a super top-up. It pays only after your family's admissible bills in a policy year cross the deductible. There are four options:

₹10,000 deductible with ₹1 lakh cover.
₹50,000 deductible with ₹5 lakh cover.
₹1 lakh deductible with ₹10 lakh cover.
₹3 lakh deductible with ₹30 lakh cover.

You can pay the deductible from the NPS Swasthya account, from your own money or from another health policy. You can also move money from your regular NPS account into NPS Swasthya, but only up to the deductible. PFRDA Chairman S Ramann said diseases you already have will have a one-year waiting period, as reported by Mint.

Using the money for health bills

You can withdraw up to 25% of your total contributions, not of the current balance, for eligible doctor visits, medicines, tests or hospital bills.
There is no limit on how many times, and no waiting period.
The money goes straight to the hospital, clinic or other provider, not to you.
A bill the insurer does not pay can still be paid from the account, if it is an eligible health expense under PFRDA's rules.
If a single hospital bill is bigger than what you can withdraw, you can exit early. The balance goes to the bill first, and anything left moves to a regular NPS account.

The money is invested like the central government NPS scheme, so returns are market-linked and not guaranteed. If the renewal premium is not paid after the grace period, the cover lapses and NPS Swasthya turns into a regular NPS account. You will get alerts 90, 60 and 30 days before renewal if your balance looks short.

Who offers it now

Axis Pension Fund was the first to launch it, with Aditya Birla Health Insurance as the insurer and Medi Assist as the health benefit administrator, as reported by Mint and CNBC-TV18. Compare the policy's exclusions and waiting periods with your current health cover before you join. For the regular NPS exit rules, see our NPS withdrawal guide.

Saifu is not a SEBI or PFRDA registered adviser. NPS investments are market-linked. This guide explains the rules and is not a recommendation.

Sources: PFRDA: NPS Swasthya, PFRDA: NPS Swasthya FAQs, updated 8 October 2026, PFRDA: Operational guidelines for NPS Swasthya, 18 September 2026, Mint: NPS Swasthya, how the new healthcare savings model works, 5 October 2026, CNBC-TV18: NPS Swasthya moves to operational framework, 1 October 2026.

Rules, rates and limits change. Check the official source linked above before you rely on a figure here. Posts never contain referral or affiliate links from the writer.

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