General Insurance Council, the forum of all general insurers under IRDA is working to review the health insurance norms followed by Insurance companies, said B D Banerjee, former CMD of Oriental Insurance company and National Insurance Company, and a member of committee for senior citizens insurance at IRDA.
He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Various points would come under the review including indiscriminate non-disclosure fees charged, guidelines for conducting medical tests, and pre-existing illness definition for medical claims.
Speaking on the occasion Suresh Mathur, joint director of IRDA, said that ambiguous policy terms had to be avoided for making the business more transparent. Also, health insurance has to be promoted to ensure proper coverage of the weaker sections of the society and senior citizens.
Bannerjee, further added, In case a person has any symptoms of a disease, the entry load should be increased to adjust the cost. However, in that case, the insurance cover should not commence after two years of buying the policy, but right from the day of purchasing it.
He also said if a person has had a medical treatment for more than 12 months, the entry load should be increased but the benefits of mediclaim should not be denied to the subject.
He felt as cardio- vascular disease
was one of the commonest ailments these days, the entry load of an insurance scheme should be adjusted according to the glucose, lipid and hypertension levels of the insured.These steps would help in standardistion of medical costs, he said.
Apart from this, Banerjee also felt that the increase the premium on health insurance by 200 per cent for people above the age of 60, as illogical.
“IRDA has made it clear that the increase should not be more than 50-70 per cent, but the cap is mostly violated by companies,” he confessed.
Also, insurance companies should come up with regional tariff plans as done by the National Insurance Company. He claimed that accreditation of health care institutions would bring down the cost of medical insurance. People who could not afford medical insurance should be offered a product like Medisafe, where employee and employer jointly contributed to a fund that covered all employers.
“Accreditation of hospitals would go a long way in identifying providers which will provide qualitative and cost effective health care,” said Mathur.
He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Various points would come under the review including indiscriminate non-disclosure fees charged, guidelines for conducting medical tests, and pre-existing illness definition for medical claims.
Speaking on the occasion Suresh Mathur, joint director of IRDA, said that ambiguous policy terms had to be avoided for making the business more transparent. Also, health insurance has to be promoted to ensure proper coverage of the weaker sections of the society and senior citizens.
Bannerjee, further added, In case a person has any symptoms of a disease, the entry load should be increased to adjust the cost. However, in that case, the insurance cover should not commence after two years of buying the policy, but right from the day of purchasing it.
He also said if a person has had a medical treatment for more than 12 months, the entry load should be increased but the benefits of mediclaim should not be denied to the subject.
He felt as cardio- vascular disease
was one of the commonest ailments these days, the entry load of an insurance scheme should be adjusted according to the glucose, lipid and hypertension levels of the insured.These steps would help in standardistion of medical costs, he said.Apart from this, Banerjee also felt that the increase the premium on health insurance by 200 per cent for people above the age of 60, as illogical.
“IRDA has made it clear that the increase should not be more than 50-70 per cent, but the cap is mostly violated by companies,” he confessed.
Also, insurance companies should come up with regional tariff plans as done by the National Insurance Company. He claimed that accreditation of health care institutions would bring down the cost of medical insurance. People who could not afford medical insurance should be offered a product like Medisafe, where employee and employer jointly contributed to a fund that covered all employers.
“Accreditation of hospitals would go a long way in identifying providers which will provide qualitative and cost effective health care,” said Mathur.
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