The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had outlined the specific guidelines for a standardized medical insurance policy. This policy mainly intends to cover vector-borne diseases such as Dengue, Malaria, Chikungunya, Zika Virus, etc. Once the guidelines on the newly proposed medical insurance policy are finalized after proper consultation, then it will be easily accessible at all health insurers and general insurers.
While issuing the drafted guidelines on the policy, IRDAI commented that the authority encourages all general and health insurers to put forward this policy to the public, so that it will benefit a large proportion who are in need; specifically those who are suffering from vector-borne diseases. The duration of this policy is not yet fixed. IRDAI asked the stakeholders to examine and share their opinion by November 27 regarding the term of the policy, whether it should be offered only for a short tenure (less than one-year policy duration as these vector-borne diseases are generally seasonal) or not.
The newly drafted medical insurance policy will cover the base hospitalization expenses for a sum insured between Rs 10000 and Rs 2 lakh. Here the expenses of the daily room will be covered and the ICU limit is prescribed specifically under the ‘Use and File’ procedure. The proposed policy could also have a waiting period of 15 days.
Vector-Borne Diseases are those conditions that result from an infection transferred through blood-feeding arthropods, such as mosquitoes, fleas, etc. Some of the examples for these types of diseases are Dengue, Malaria, West Nile Virus, and Lyme disease. Earlier this year, the Insurance Regulatory Body had introduced standardized covers for health called the Aarogya Sanjeevani, and also a coronavirus cover. They had drafted terms for a standardized life insurance policy as well.
The IRDAI is an autonomous, statutory body that is engaged in controlling and promoting the insurance and re-insurance industries in India. They are responsible to set up a reliable management information system that carries out a high standard of financial soundness amongst market players. The main function of IRDAI is to bring speedy advancements in the insurance industry, by giving benefits to the common man and in turn accelerates the development of the Indian economy.
