New health insurance scheme launched: Hospital bills not required for claim

ICICI Lombard General Insurance has joined hands with PhonePe to launch Hospital Daily cash benefit — a customised policy that allows buyers to get an assured amount if they are hospitalised. The customers are no longer need to produce hospital bills to claim the amount from the insurance company. Launched under Group Safeguard Insurance, this sachet-based group insurance product will bear the hospitalisation cost of COVID-19 patients as well.

How this policy works:

The new insurance policy permits the users to choose a cover ranging from ₹500 to ₹5,000 for a day of hospitalisation. A minimum 48 hours hospitalisation is required to be eligible for the claim "along with a deductible of 1 day for each claim." The cash benefits will be applicable for hospitalsation at any government or private hospitals across the country. A discharge certificate from the hospital will be sufficient in most cases for the claim processing, the insurance company said. Customers will get double the insurance cover amount if they are admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU).

Who can buy it?

PhonePe users who are between age group of 18 to 65 are eligible for this policy. "This is one of the most affordable hospitalisation insurance policies available in the market today," the ICICI Lombard said in a statement. Buyers who already have mediclaim policies, employer health insurance, self-funded means of paying hospital bills will also be able to claim the payout benefit.

Cost: The annual premium for Hospital Daily cash benefit policy starts from as low as ₹130 including taxes. PhonePe users can avail the policy in "less than 2 minutes as the process is quite simple," the digital payment platform said in a statement. Customers can view their policy documents instantly on the app.

"Benefits like assured cash in the event of hospitalisation without the need of a bill should provide additional help and convenience to customers in these challenging times," said Sanjeev Mantri, Executive Director, ICICI Lombard General Insurance said.

“In the current situation, people are worried about hospitalisation expenses. This includes both customers who already have medical insurance and those who don’t have it," Gunjan Ghai, VP & Head of Insurance, PhonePe said.

Source: Live Mint