India urges insurers to offer COVID-specific health policies

A lump sum benefit equal to 100% of the sum insured shall be payable.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has encouraged insurers to offer an individual COVID-specific standard benefit-based health policy, according to an announcement.

The policy shall offer a policy tenure of three and a half months, six and a half months, and nine and a half months, respectively. A lump sum benefit equal to 100% of the sum insured shall be payable upon a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, which would require a hospitalisation for a minimum continuous period of 72 hours.

The diagnosis shall be from a government authorised diagnostic centre. Insurers should also specify the non-medical limit and relevant details explicitly in the format specified.

The insurer may determine the price keeping, but the premium must be on a pan-Indian basis and no zone-based pricing is allowed.

The policy must comply with the provisions of IRDAI’s 2016 regulations and all other guidelines on standardisation in health insurance. It can also be offered as a micro insurance product subject to sum-insured limits specified in IRDAI’s 2015 micro insurance regulations.

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