Oriental Insurance to launch medical insurance for senior citizens

Senior citizens can now look forward to check out medical insurance policy scheme from Oriental Insurance. The insurance company is to soon launch the health insurance product designed for the age group of 60 to 85, and is expected to cover a wide range of specific ailments.

M Ramadoss, chariman and managing director of Oriental Insurance chairman and managing director M Ramadoss said that the company has approached insurance regulator IRDA for approval, while speaking to the media on the sidelines of an insurance seminar organised by the Indian Merchants’ Chamber in Mumbai on Friday.

Catering specifically for the demographic group of senior citizens, health insurance product `Varishta Bima scheme’ is also available from National Insurance, which was launched last year.

Oriental Insurance proposes to include some pre-existing ailments after two to three years in its scheme, according to Mr Ramadoss. One could be insured up to Rs 2 lakh with a flat premium across all age groups, with no geographic restrictions. But the exact details on premium were not available.

Mr Ramadoss said that though the industry has made a smooth transition to the detariffing regime, revenue growth may be impacted as premiums for certain segments have been hit.Premium income on medical insurance has been impacted because of elimination of cross subsidies while tariff on fire and motor insurance has also been impacted. Oriental has lost revenues to the tune of Rs 70 crore owing to the discontinuation of some group mediclaim insurance policies.

Detariffing is expected to slowdown the revenue growth of many insurance companies. Speaking on the issue, ICICI Lombard General Insurance MD; CEO Sandeep Bakshi said there has to be a trade-off between topline growth and profitability and between market share and the profit and loss account in a detariffed scenario.