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Insurance For Healthcare Workers Attending To Covid-19 Patients

Who would have thought a 0.00016 mm sized virus would cause unprecedented havoc, locking down practically the entire world?

Even as we all stay confined to our respective homes, healthcare workers at hospitals are attending to the infected, exposing themselves to the dreadful virus. They are rightfully described as warriors by many.

All the recognition and cheering from our windows, balconies, and mobile phones may have brought smiles on their faces. With the news streaming around healthcare workers contracting the virus across the world (14 per cent of coronavirus patients in Spain are healthcare workers) and closer home in India, most of these overworked personnel are under overwhelming stress, aggravated further by the lack of enough protective gear in the country.

The New India Assurance has initiated immediate risk coverage for healthcare workers on March 30, 2020, following the announcement by the Finance Minister recently.

Here is an attempt to answer important questions related to this insurance cover.

Will the government fund the premium?

Yes. This is a government-funded scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package. This coverage begins on March 30, 2020 and does not require any premium payment or registration.

Will it also cover private healthcare workers dealing with COVID cases?

The insurance policy, besides covering public and community healthcare workers, also covers private hospital staff. It also includes volunteers, daily wage, ad hoc, outsourced staff requisitioned by state or central hospitals, including autonomous hospitals, AIIMS and INIs, as per MOHFW’s press release of March 29, 2020.

What is the insurance cover provided to these healthcare workers?

In the case of death due to complications arising out of contracting the COVID-19 pandemic, while treating or attending to jobs relating to patients suffering from the same illness, the insurance policy will pay Rs. 50 Lakhs to the worker’s legal heir. This cover would be over and above any other insurance cover that the healthcare worker holds.

Does it cover hospitalization expenses?

This needs to be understood really well. Many news articles have described this cover as health insurance. Unfortunately, it is not your regular health insurance policy that covers hospitalization risks. The insurance amount will be paid only in case of death. It does not cover the risk in case a healthcare worker is quarantined or hospitalized for COVID-19.

In my personal opinion, in these testing times, the government should extend comprehensive financial protection to healthcare workers that cover all kinds of healthcare risks while they attend to the COVID-19 patients. The insurance cover should ideally include a smaller lump-sum benefit (20 per cent or around Rs. 10 Lakhs) against diagnosis, quarantine, or hospitalization for COVID-19.

Till when is the cover effective?

The cover is valid till June 30, 2020. However, in case this virus outbreak does not get controlled by then, the coverage is likely to get extended further.

Should they buy a separate health cover in any case?

Yes. Whether you are a healthcare worker are not, it is essential that you have a personal cover for your family and yourself under a comprehensive health insurance policy that also covers pandemics such as COVID-19.

Will health insurers charge a higher premium, treating them as riskier cases?

It will always be tricky to buy insurance when there is an urgent need for the cover. Insurers are likely to get nervous for precisely the same reasons that you desperately want financial protection.

Insurers will always look at risk trends and data to price insurance covers, and unfortunately, the trend around healthcare workers being vulnerable to this pandemic has not been good.

Honestly, if you are a healthcare worker, without any directive from the government in place, you would be lucky if insurance companies don’t demand a higher premium or worse even decline covering your family and you under a health insurance plan.-Money Control

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