A big change is being seen in the health insurance sector. Now the requirement of 24 hours hospitalization for health insurance claim has been abolished. Keeping in mind the new technologies and advanced medical practices, many insurance companies have started accepting claims even for just 2 hours of hospitalization.
A new and relieving step has come in the field of health insurance. Earlier, to get insurance claim, the patient had to stay in the hospital for at least 24 hours, now many insurance companies are eliminating this condition. Now you can avail the benefits of mediclaim even if you stay in the hospital for just 2 hours..
Improvements in medical technology have changed the definition
Medical technology has made tremendous progress in the last decade. Surgical and treatment techniques have become so advanced that many operations considered serious can be completed in a few hours. Now treatments like cataract surgery, chemotherapy, angiography do not require overnight stay in the hospital.
The purpose behind this change is to ensure that policyholders do not get their claims rejected just because of “no overnight stay in the hospital”.
Insurance companies are updating
Understanding this need, several major insurance companies have made changes to their policies. ICICI Lombard’s Elevate plan, Care Insurance’s Supreme plan and Niva Bupa’s Health ReAssure plan now cover treatments that require the patient to be hospitalised for only a few hours.
What are the details of these plans?
ICICI Lombard Elevate plan: ₹10 lakh coverage at ₹9,195 annual premium (for a 30-year-old non-smoker)
Care Supreme plan: Starting at ₹12,790 annual premium
Niva Bupa Health ReAssure: Starting at ₹14,199 annual premium
Experts’ opinion
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Siddharth Singhal, Head, Health Insurance at Policybazaar, said that we have to update health insurance with time. New technology has reduced treatment time significantly and insurance companies will have to bring flexibility in this.
