New health insurance policy: Health life insurance companies are again ready to offer new health policies.
New health insurance policy: Health life insurance companies are again ready to offer new health policies. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and other major life insurance companies are keen to re-enter the indemnity-based health insurance business amid a clear indication from the Insurance Regulatory and Health Authority of India (IRDAI) to re-approve companies in the health insurance segment. Making
Apart from LIC, insurers like ICICI Prudential Life, HDFC Life and Bajaj Allianz Life say they were also offering mediclaim policies before the ban in 2016, but IRDAI stopped them from doing so. These insurers say they are all set to re-enter the business when the insurance regulator gives them nod to allow them to sell mediclaim policies again.
Such will be the policy
All these companies are currently offering non-indemnity based health policies. Indemnity-based health plans ie Mediclaim policies are renewable annually or are sold with a validity of one year. These are the largest selling health plans in the country. However, the insurance regulator had barred life insurance companies from selling such plans in the year 2016. Since then life insurers are allowed to offer only fixed benefit health plans.
When contacted, LIC said, “We are reviewing the proposal received from the regulator as health is our core business of life insurance. There is nothing new in this as we have been active in this for decades and also offering many non-compensation products. LIC Chairman MT Kumar told PTI, ”We are already offering many long term health protection and guaranteed health products. We are evaluating the suggestions given by the regulator.
Every person in the country should have a health policy by the year 2030.
IRDAI chief Debasish Panda had said recently that the time has come for life insurance companies to re-enter the health sector. This is necessary to achieve the goal of having a health policy for every citizen by the year 2030. However, Panda later said that no decision has been taken in this regard yet.
Private sector company ICICI Prudential Life said it still has a large customer base of 2.63 lakh in the health sector despite allowing most customers to port out (changing company while continuing the policy) in case of regulatory restrictions. ICICI Prudential Managing Director NS Kannan said, “We are keen to re-enter health insurance as there is nothing new in this.
We were present in this segment for many years before the sudden ban in 2016. It perfectly matches the life insurance business.” Bajaj Allianz Life, another company in the life insurance sector, also said that it will focus on this area again. Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life said, “We want to understand in which direction this proposal will go. As a company, we are well positioned to meet the health insurance needs of the customers.
