Regulator liberalises health insurance operating conditions

Currently, health insurance premiums are paid annually. Yearly payments mean that some customers have opted for a lower coverage to ensure they can afford the premium, or have eschewed health insurance totally because annual premiums are seen as too high.

In a circular issued on 23 September, the IRDAI has also given its nod to insurers to add approved standalone riders to individual health insurance products without having to file the product again with the regulator, reported Live Mint.

The regulator has allowed insurers too to make minor modifications to approved individual insurance products without waiting for IRDAI's approval. Some of these modifications include addition of distribution channels; increase or decrease in base premium rates of up to 15% of annual premium rates based on loss ratios of the past three financial years; decrease in the minimum premium and increase in the maximum premium; decrease in minimum age or increase in maximum age, among others.

Where premiums are modified under the new framework, they cannot be changed for the next three years. Insurers can also add approved standalone riders to individual health insurance policies, expand the list of day-care procedures offered and add more to the list of critical illnesses offered under benefit-based products.

The new guidelines are expected to help insurers implement changes quickly, making their products more responsive to customers' needs.

Source: Asia Insurance Review