Standardised products will create more trust in minds of policy holders: IRDAI Chairman

Standardisation of insurance products would not only create trust and confidence in the minds of the policy holders, but will also enable insurers to market their product easily and help reduce disputes during the claim settlement process, according to a senior official of the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI

We have multiplicity of health insurance products. People are often confused which one to take because they don’t have time or energy to go through bulky policy documents,” said IRDAI Chairman Subhash Chandra Khuntia. He was delivering the inaugural address at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region's Health Insurance Conclave, ‘India Health Insurance-Fast Forward’ here on Friday.

“It is necessary that we expand our distribution channels to explain to customers correctly about insurance products. We have created some standard products so that people will know about the product and claim settlement process merely through word of mouth,” he added. He noted that standard insurance products are akin to fixed deposit, while other products are like specialised savings instruments, which everyone may not understand.

“All the insurance companies should actively participate in selling the standard products. It will not affect your revenue but will only enhance it since competition will not be purely based on pricing but also claim settlements, grievance redressal processes and how you interact with the customers,” Khuntia added.

Corona products

Lauding the insurance companies for unanimously accepting the idea of specific indemnity products for Coronavirus such as ‘Corona Kavach’ and ‘Corona Rakshak’, the IRDAI Chairman said, “It is very heartening to note that more than 4.5 lakh lives have already been covered in just 20 days since the launch of the product in July 10 and as on July 31.”

He also added that more than 70,000 Covid-19 related claims worth ₹700 crore have already been settled and many more claims are coming in. “We have allowed home treatment for covid patients and telemedicine so the cost of treatment will come down both for the insurers and the general public,” he added.

Ayushman Bharat

In his keynote address, Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, lauded the government’s Ayushman Bharat initiative and said that it will help to provide coverage to the entire country similar to countries like South Korea.

Highlighting Apollo hospital initiatives like ‘Project Kavach’ a comprehensive and an integrated response for Protection against Covid-19, Reddy said, “We also started tele consultation and almost 1,500 teleconsultation were taking place every day across the country, which some of the other countries are now following.”

“This is one product which the government is using which will make a significant impact in translating health care from hospital to home and then more importantly to be aware of what you have earliest,” Reddy added.

In his opening remarks, S Prakash, Chairman, CII Southern Region Health Insurance Conclave, and Managing Director, Star Health & Allied Insurance, said that close to seven crore people in India are pushed into poverty because of health reasons and it is the collective responsibility of all the stakeholders to drive health insurance in India.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

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