The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority or IRDA will soon come out with new regulations asking insurance companies to build a common corpus in three months from the premiums collected to take care of the needs of senior citizens, according to report from Financial Chronicle.
The move follows the recommendation of the KS Sastry Committee. Once the new regulations come into effect, senior citizens can hope to get health cover even after the age of 65 and need not have to run from pillar to post to get their health insurance policies renewed or get their claims settled. The proposal also envisages making health insurance an affordable product for the elderly.
The Sastry Committee had also recommended that it should not be the insurer's discretion to decide if a senior citizen can be allowed to seek health insurance cover up to the age of 65 or beyond. In the latter case, it should be guaranteed that health insurance would be renewed without any cap on the age of the insured, the panel said.
At the introductory stage, the renewal will be guaranteed only for a period of three years from the date the IRDA issues the regulations. This will be without any cap on the age of the insured. The panel further suggested that a base annual premium of Rs.3,000 be fixed for every Rs.1,00,000 of sum insured at the age of 50 years.
According to the regulator agency, health insurance for senior citizens needs careful analysis by all stakeholders, the regulator, government, insurance industry, medical service provider, third-party administrators and others.
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