Connect with us

Daily News

COVID-19: Indians Look To Insure Themselves Against The Virus

Deepti Roy, a 42-year-old IT professional from Kolkata, was in two minds about renewing her health insurance policy. However, with the coronavirus outbreak triggering a worldwide panic and her recent official trip to Hong Kong prompted her to continue with the policy.

“While I do not have any symptoms, but it is a fact that hospitalisation expenses are high. Plus renewal rates are also more attractive (due to discounts),” she told Moneycontrol.

With three new cases in India, the COVID-19 has led to a renewed scare. Though the situation is under control in India, people are beginning to look for medical insurance.

While insurance companies did not quantify the exact health policies sales increase owing to the COVID-19 scare, distribution officials said that there has been a 20 percent increase in the number of inquiries.

The fourth quarter of the financial year is also the most popular when it comes to purchasing medical insurance. Salaried professionals buy products to claim tax exemption and companies also offer special premium rates. This year with the threat of COVID-19, the thrust to buy health policies is higher.

Anurag Rastogi, Chief Actuary & Chief Underwriting Officer, HDFC ERGO General Insurance said that the company is observing growth in the purchase of health insurance, which is usually seen during the period of January to March each year.

“While this growth may not be directly attributed to the incidences of Coronovirus, consumers are waking up to the thought of either buying a health insurance policy or questioning whether their existing policy covers them in case they contract the virus,” he added.

Why health insurance?

When it comes to COVID-19, health products will cover hospitalisation expenses if it is for a minimum of 24 hours. Also considering that it is an epidemic there would not be any pre-existing waiting period for Coronavirus.

“Epidemics cannot be pre-existing and hence it will be treated as an independent incident,” explained Sanjay Datta, Chief-Underwriting, Claims, Reinsurance and Actuary, ICICI Lombard General Insurance.

Health insurance products cover claims related to surgical procedures during hospitalisation as well as allied expenses like room rent. In India, while tests for COVID-19 are free, hospitalisation expenses for confirmed cases have to be borne by the patient.

A medical insurance would come handly in these scenarios. Considering that it is a special cases minimal exclusions would be applicable.

Vikas Mathur, Head- Health Marketing, Universal Sompo General Insurance, said that since the treatment of such diseases includes being quarantined and is part of symptomatic medical management, this itself can lead to compounding of expenses.

Here, specialised medicines and treatments could lead to lakhs of rupees in hospital bills within a few days. Mathur added that individuals can opt for top-up medical insurance policy to increase their health cover at a reasonable pricing.

But will all claims be covered?

Only the hospitalisation claims are likely to be covered. Any medication prescribed or secondary infections caught during the test process would be excluded.

Subramanyam Brahmajoysula, Head-Underwriting and Reinsurance, SBI General Insurance, said that claims due to corona virus are payable provided the concerned person is hospitalised for at least 24 hours.

“Most of the health insurance policies in India do not cover outpatient treatment. However, if COVID-19 corona virus is declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation or Indian government, then claims may/ might not be payable as such claims are excluded under many health insurance policies,” he added.

Pandemics are excluded from insurance coverage because they are considered a high-risk item with unnaturally higher level of claims.-Money Control

Copyright © 2024 Medical Buyer

error: Content is protected !!