HYDERABAD: To bring more people under the ambit of health insurance, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has hiked the maximum cover under the standard health insurance plan — Arogya Sanjeevani Policy — from Rs 5 lakh earlier to Rs 10 lakh. The insurance regulator has made it mandatory for insurers to offer a sum insured between Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh under the Arogya Sanjeevani policy as against the previous range of Rs 1 -5 lakh. Arogya Sanjeevani is the standardised health insurance product that was launched in March 2020. “In order to enhance the coverage available under Arogya Sanjeevani Policy, in partial modification of the extant guidelines, insurers shall mandatorily offer the sum insured between Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh under the standard product from May 1, 2021, or earlier,” the regulator said in a circular.
The outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic has increased the value and importance of health insurance as people have realised how expensive it can get when you fall ill. One can buy a health insurance policy by themselves or it is also offered by several companies in India to their employees. The health insurance policies provided to the employees by the employers cover basic health issues, disease, and even an accident. It can also cover the cost of treatment of spouses and children of the staff and even parents as dependents if they are hospitalized. However, to avail of this facility, the employee needs to mention the names of the dependents while filing details for the medical insurance policy.
However, the employee who has been offered the health insurance policies must note that the policy is valid only till they are working in the organization that is providing the policy. If they change the company, the health insurance policy will become null and void. This is one of the reasons why employees or salaried class are advised to buy a health insurance policy, rather than depending on the company for the same.
Even if you earn less, you can buy a health insurance policy by choosing the tenure of the payment like monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, and annually. In fact, you can also get income tax benefits on the Medical Health Insurance Policy under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. Income tax deduction up to Rs 25,000 for medical insurance premium for self, spouse, and dependent children can be claimed by a salaried class person.
Also, an additional deduction of up to Rs 25,000 can be availed by the person for insurance of parents if they are not senior citizens.
However, it can be noted that most of the people in the country prefer purchasing health insurance plans with a lower sum insured just to save on the premium. There is no mandatory rule to ask people to buy health covers with higher sum insured which can help them afford quality healthcare.
It is always advised to people planning to buy health covers to compare various health policies provided by different insurance companies so that you can get a clear picture and understanding.
Health insurance companies are likely to hike the insurance premium by 10 per cent starting April 1. The companies had kept the premiums unchanged keeping in mind the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic has highlighted the need to have sufficient health and life insurance cover. High hospitalisation costs during the pandemic forced many to take tough decisions of choosing between their loved ones and the future of their families. Having the proper coverage can help in many life situations.
But, with the increase in coronavirus claims worth thousands of crores and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) standard rules, the companies are forced to hike the prices.
Most companies revise premiums at the beginning of the new financial year. In such a situation, the companies are allowed to revise the premium of health insurance policy from April 1.
What led to this rise?
The insurance regulator has included many serious diseases in the medical insurance policy such as mental problems, genetic diseases, neuro-related disorders, and psychological diseases. Therefore, the inclusion of these serious illnesses is bound to increase the premium.
Another reason is the coronavirus claim of thousands of crores which is adding an additional burden on the companies and the recovery for the same will be done by increasing the premium. Insurance companies have received claims worth Rs 14 thousand crores, out of which companies have settled Rs 9 thousand crores. An increase in medical costs will also lead to a higher premium.
Meanwhile, if you are unhappy with your health insurance policy’s features or premium or insurer’s claim settlement record or benefits, then you can switch to another insurer without losing benefits. Up until early 2011, portability of health insurance was not an option, but it was the insurance regulatory IRDAI that introduced the portability norms, giving policyholders the choice to switch insurers.
