INDIA: Senior Citizens To Have More Health Cover Options

MUMBAI, India (The Times of India), October 20, 2007: Senior citizens may soon have more choices to pick for their health insurance cover. Oriental Insurance has filed a specific health insurance product for senior citizens with the insurance regulator (IRDA). Oriental is the third public sector general insurance company to look at such a product after National and New India Assurance. While National Insurance launched its product last year, New India launched its product in October this year. It is expected that IRDA, the regulatory body for the insurance business, will approve the Oriental product shortly. Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar, chairman and managing director, M Ramadoss, said that the product would have a maximum sum assured of Rs 200,000. Ramadoss also added that the product would cover a longer list of specific diseases. "The product will be a co-payment cashless product (where the insured person shares a proportion of the claim). The entry age would be 60 while the coverage will be available till the age of 85," said Ramadoss. Although, Ramadoss did not divulge exact details, he said the plan would cover pre-existing diseases after a period 2-3 years. New India’s new product offers a maximum sum assured of Rs 150,000 and the entry age of 60 years with the cover available till the age of 80. New India’s policy for senior citizens covers pre-existing diseases after 18 months. The premium for the age bracket of 60-65 years for Rs 100,000 is Rs 3,850. Ramadoss also added that given the huge loss ratios arising of group health policies, the company had refused to write business of Rs 700 million this year. "It was the business that we had written last year. This year, however, we refused to write it because of the inappropriate pricing," he added. Ramadoss said that he expected the premium growth of the company to be around 5% by the financial year end. Until now, however, growth has been more or less flat. Other general insurance companies also expect profitability to be affected post detariffing. After the launch of their revamped mediclaim product last year, Oriental has seen a drop in the premium growth rate. During Last financial year, there had been a 40% growth in premiums in health insurance. Copyright © 2007 Times Internet Limited.