Irdai tonic for health insurance: A regulator for hospitals and doctors

By asking health insurers to access a national list of doctors, the regulator hopes to encourage them to offer more flexible policies outside of the hospital network

Amid the blitzkrieg of orders issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) last week, one stands out. The order has asked the health insurance and general insurance companies that offer health cover to access a national list of doctors being developed by the government’s Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
 
Other than life insurance, Indians buy health insurance. Irdai data shows that health covers account for over 35 per cent of all non-life insurance policies by premium (April-October 2022). But dissatisfaction levels are high. Insurance companies claim the hospitals and sometimes the insured cheat them, the customers