Before you start

Employer group medical cover, or a private policy bought yourself
Vaccinations appropriate to India — typhoid and hepatitis A as a baseline
A hospital identified near your home before you need one
A realistic plan for March to June

Step-by-step

1
Read the group policy, not the summary slide
Check the sum insured, the daily room-rent sub-limit, disease-specific sub-limits, maternity terms, waiting periods for pre-existing conditions and whether dependants are included. Cover normally ends the day your employment does.
Via employerWho: You and HRFirst month
2
Top up with a super top-up or an international policy
Indian super top-up policies are cheap and lift a thin group ceiling substantially. An international policy costs far more but travels with you and covers treatment outside India, which an Indian policy generally does not.
OnlineWho: You
3
Register at a private hospital and know where AIIMS is
The main private options — Wockhardt, Kingsway, Alexis, Orange City and the Government Medical College on the public side — cluster in the central and western city, with AIIMS Nagpur on the southern edge near MIHAN. Do one routine consultation so you exist in their system, and check whether they are in your insurer's cashless network.
In personWho: YouWeek 1–2
4
Treat March to June as a medical season, not a weather one
Nagpur regularly exceeds 45°C and has recorded 47°C. Shift outdoor activity to before eleven and after six, drink far more than feels necessary, learn what heat exhaustion looks like in yourself and in domestic staff, and do not leave anyone or anything in a parked car. Heat illness here sends people to hospital every year.
In personWho: YouMarch–June
5
Take mosquito precautions through and after the monsoon
Dengue, chikungunya and malaria all rise with and after the rains, and the aedes mosquito bites during the day, so evening repellent alone is not enough. The city's proximity to forest and rural districts widens the picture — if you are doing weekend safaris, take the same precautions there.
In personWho: You
6
Know the emergency drill before an emergency
112 is the national number and 108 the free ambulance service. For a planned admission at a network hospital, ask the insurance desk for cashless pre-authorisation; off network you pay and claim back, and insurers typically require notification within twenty-four hours of admission.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Insurance policy document and TPA cashless card
Passport and visa, required at admission
Vaccination records and a list of regular medications by generic name
Proof of Nagpur address

Things most newcomers don’t know

Vidarbha's heat is the most serious health variable of living here, and it is worse than the national average suggests.

Nagpur and the districts around it top India's temperature tables most summers, with readings in the high forties and no coastal moderation at all. Heat illness here is a recurring clinical presentation rather than an anecdote, and the risk falls hardest on outdoor workers and on domestic staff — the people least likely to raise it with you. Air conditioning is not a luxury in a Nagpur May and the electricity bill that comes with it should be in your budget from the start.

Source: India Meteorological Department

The tertiary picture here changed recently and older advice has not caught up.

For a long time serious specialist care from Nagpur meant travelling to Mumbai or Hyderabad. An AIIMS opened here in recent years alongside a long-established Government Medical College and a growing private sector, which has materially narrowed that gap. It has not closed it — the deepest sub-specialty capacity is still elsewhere — but the assumption that anything complicated means a flight is now out of date.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Room-rent sub-limits quietly shrink Indian claims across the whole bill.

Many group policies cap the daily room rent they will meet. Take a room above the cap and the insurer proportionately reduces every other line in the bill — surgeon's fees, tests, consumables — not just the room. A policy you believed covered you can leave a large residual.

Source: IRDAI — policyholder information

Foreign nationals are outside every Indian public health scheme.

PM-JAY, ESIC and CGHS are all closed to foreign nationals, so there is no residual public entitlement to fall back on. A gap between two employers is a genuine exposure rather than a paperwork inconvenience — bridge it with a personal policy before you resign, not after.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a public safety net exists for foreign nationals — none does.
Reading the sum insured and skipping the room-rent sub-limit.
Treating a Vidarbha May as ordinary hot weather.
Forgetting that outdoor and domestic staff carry the heat risk you are insulated from.
Relaxing about mosquitoes once the rain stops — dengue peaks after the monsoon.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.