Now, mediclaim for the rich

New India Assurance plans to offer Rs 25 lakh medical cover.

Government-owned New India Assurance Company, the largest non-life insurer, is working on a health insurance policy to provide cover for as high as Rs 25 lakh, five times the standard cover of Rs 5 lakh.

The high sum insured will allow the insurer the luxury of taking treatment in a deluxe room in premium priced hospitals and cover high-cost medical expenses for critical illnesses.

Unlike the present health insurance policies, under which the room rent is capped at 1 per cent of the sum insured and intensive care unit (ICU) rent at 2 per cent, the proposed policy will have no ceilings if a policy-holder opts for a sum insured of Rs 10 lakh and above.

The policy will also pay Rs 1,000 for an attendant in the hospital and cover loss of income during hospitalisation up to 100 weeks. Allowable ambulance charges are also expected to be high.

Current mediclaim policies cost Rs 12,000 to Rs 13,000 for an insured sum of Rs 5 lakh. For a Rs 20 lakh cover, the premium might be Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000, a New India official said.

Terms and conditions, including standard exclusions, will be similar to the current mediclaim policy.

The health insurance policy is being proposed within a month of the company launching "Health Plus" with an insured sum of Rs 10 lakh.

Unlike Health Plus, for which New India Assurance has divided the country into three zones with varying premium rates and claim amounts, this high-value policy will not be following the zonal concept.

"Healthcare costs are rising, so people are in need of higher insurance. We receive a lot of proposals from people asking for a higher sum insured," the official said.

He added that discussions on the new policy were at a preliminary stage, after which it will take three months to finalise the product. Thereafter, the company will have to file the product with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority for approval.

Health policies with higher covers are part of insurers' efforts to grow market share in the fast-growing health insurance business, which grew 40 per cent to Rs 3,200 crore in 2006-07.