Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, there are concerns among senior citizens about hospitalisation costs. To ensure that they do not face financial constraints, ManipalCigna Health Insurance has waived the 20 percent mandatory co-pay clause for individuals aged 65 years and above.
In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Prasun Sikdar, MD & CEO, ManipalCigna Health Insurance, said the idea was to protect the financial security of senior citizens.
"During the COVID-19 outbreak, we did not want senior citizens to any face any financial difficulty since there us a co-pay element in the policy. Hence, we have waived it for four months till August 2020," he said.
Also read: Live updates on the Coronavirus outbreak in India
In health insurance policies, co-pay refers to an arrangement where the policyholder is required to pay a fixed portion of the medical expenses (claims) out of their own pocket while the insurer pays the rest.
With the rise in COVID-19 cases, Sikdar said that there is also an increase in awareness among customers about buying health insurance policies. Further, he said that super top-up plans are becoming popular for customers who want a higher medical cover but at an affordable premium.
"Health insurance is becoming a necessity. This is because falling ill (due to COVID-19) is now not a distant possibility, but a distinct possibility. The renewals seeing an improvement and at the time of renewing a health policy, customers are asking for an increase in the sum assured," he added.
The insurer has relaxed the underwriting guidelines to accept certain risks (of some age groups) through video underwriting. Here, even past six months medical records are being accepted because the lockdown has derailed the process of conducting fresh medical tests.
Sikdar said all the customer service executives are working from home and COVID-19 claims are being settled on priority.
"We are ensuring that for all claims, be it COVID-19 claims or other claims the documentation is minimal. Scanned copies are being accepted and we are using digital tools for settling health claims," he said.
ManipalCigna collected Rs 576.19 crore of gross direct premium in FY20, showing a year-on-year growth of 18.9 percent.
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