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A country that formed its own constitution nearly seven decades ago, and has been touted to be the next super force that would reckon the world, was yet to come of age with many aspects. What makes India a bag of contradictions? Is it its conventional outlook or the religion running in its psyche or the nerves filled with diverse cultures or the fact that so many things still lie in the closet, waiting to be tackled? 
 
The India that has made giant strides in the technological, economic and scientific sectors, took time off to look at its mentally ill only recently. 
 
Till then, despite umpteen warnings by the international agencies, communities and the United Nations, mental health was less cared for. At the best, ‘ignored’ would sum the treatment dished out to mentally ill, very nicely. 
 
India’s mentally ill were so far the responsibility of the family. And, the legal provisions that described them were framed nearly three decades ago in 1987, and still remained valid. Backing up the mental health care policy with ‘Mental Health Action Plan 365’ which clearly carves out the specific roles to be played by the central government, state, and agencies appointed by governments. The mental health bill, which is ready to be tabled in the Parliament soon, has held a huge ray of hope for those who are suffering under severity of mental illness and limited treatment they could access so far. 
 
The policy calls for more number of mental health professionals to be trained, and work on par with the primary health care centres, through both rural and urban areas to be able to deal with the burgeoning number of patients who come with illnesses that go beyond just a physical condition. 
 
According to United Nations, about 20% of the people in total population of India will suffer from various mental illnesses by the end of the decade. Mental health has long been ignored in India. Given the fact that India spends only 0.06% of its total budget on mental health – which is equivalent to not spending at all on this area, there is a great urgency with which the matter has to be dealt by the governments at all levels. 
 
India’s miniscule 0.06% spending on mental health would seem like a joke in front of what we believe the ‘poor’ Bangladesh spends on the mental health of its people. Because, the ‘poor’ and ‘poverty stricken’ Bangladesh sets aside more than 0.44 per cent of its total budget on mental health care spending. 
 
Brazil, which is on par with India in more ways than one, spends a good 2.38% of its total budget on the mental wellbeing of its people, and plans to increase the amount in the coming years. 
 
Japan is at a comfortable nearly 5% of its budget on creating better facilities and offering support to its people who are suffering from problems relating to mental health. United States of America is well behind UK with a spending of 6.2% on mental health facilities, while the latter spends nearly 11% of its total budget for this purpose. 
 
Most bleak picture about India’s mental health care is the absence of trained professionals. There is only one psychiatrist to every 343,000 people. The country has not laid as much emphasis as it should, on mental health, as against the physical health of its people. 
 
One of the most salient features of the policy is that it seeks decriminalisation of those who attempt suicide. The policy throws light on the largely neglected need to offer support for the caregivers who are invariably the family members. Technological strides apart, large part of India still struggles with the challenges posed by changing mental health scenario among people. 
 
India’s maiden attempt to reach Mars was met with success, and the country humbly hopes things change at the ground level too.

India’s First Mental Health Policy May Decriminalise Attempt To Suicide

<ul><li>More women are buying <keyword id="6362363" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-insurance">health insurance</keyword> plan with sum over ₹5 lac. </li><li>According to a survey by Policybazaar.com, the proportion of women buying health insurance plans increased from 9% in FY17 to 19% in FY19. </li><li>And their cover is increasing too. Six out of every 10 women are buying health plan with insurance sum of over ₹500,000. Policybazaar.com surveyed 10,000 women who were purchasing health insurance policies across 15 Indian states. </li></ul>Indian women are opting for insurance as a way to brace against increasing risk of diseases like diabetes, thyroid and cancer. According to a survey by Policybazaar.com, the proportion of women buying health insurance plans increased from 9% in FY17 to 19% in FY19. “Cases of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, thyroid, infertility and breast cancer among women are increasing each year. The data is indicative of the changing trend of women investing in health plans that benefit them in more ways than one and provides financial protection against such emergencies in life,” said Amit Chhabra, head of health insurance, Policybazaar.com. And their cover is increasing too. Six out of every 10 women are buying health plan with insurance sum of over ₹500,000. Policybazaar.com surveyed 10,000 women who were purchasing health insurance policies across 15 Indian states. Health plans with insurance sum between ₹5 lakh and ₹10 lakh witnessed nearly 80% growth. Policies with insurance sum of more than ₹10 lac saw a surge of 61%. According to the survey, two-thirds of the women buying health insurance plan were between the ages of 25 to 45 years. “The average lifespan for women in India is 69 years, which clearly tells us why it’s crucial for women to be adequately covered by an apt health insurance plan early in their lives. A health plan is important to women across all age groups, young girls can opt for health insurance with their parents while working or married women must opt for an individual policy,” said Chhabra. The number of women purchasing health insurance policies on Policybazaar also increased by 57% in a year. This is a good sign for a country which does not believe in buying insurance policies. <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/insure/how-can-india-fill-the-gap-in-health-insurance-awareness/articleshow/63075506.cms?from=mdr">A large proportion of the country’s population do not avail of health insurance policies</a>. Recently, NITI Aayog recommended introduction of a mandatory health insurance coverage for everyone in India. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="72106851" title="Beware of cheap cancer drugs, they could be fakes from Bangladesh" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

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Indian women are bracing for emergencies with a higher health insurance cover

A survey on <keyword id="6362363" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-insurance" source="Orion">health insurance</keyword> facilities in the country has disclosed that nearly 62 per cent health insurance <keyword id="324609" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="POLICY-HOLDERS" source="Orion">policy holders</keyword> surveyed saw their premiums increase by 25 per cent or more in 2022. The survey conducted by community platform <keyword id="2795031" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="local-circles" source="Orion">Local Circles</keyword> disclosed that of the 62 per cent, 38 per cent of them saw their premiums increase by 50 per cent. The increases came on the back of a significant increase in premiums in 2021. As per the survey, nearly 38 per cent out of the nearly 10,000 respondents to the question on "how much has your annual insurance increased in the last 12 months," said they had paid 50 per cent or more, while 24 per cent citizens had paid 25 per cent - 50 per cent higher <keyword id="47469" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="premium" source="Orion">premium</keyword>s and 11 per cent had seen their health insurance premium go up by 10 per cent -25 per cent, another 9 per cent paid 0 per cent - 10 per cent higher premium. Only 18 per cent, either did not have to shell out more or witnessed a dip in insurance premium or were unaware as their employer is taking care of it. From the response to the Local Circles survey this year compared to that done in August 2021 it is very clear that the magnitude of the increase in premium has caught many unaware. Last year while the percentage of respondents who experienced an increase of over 25 per cent in health insurance premiums was 34 per cent, this year that number has jumped to 62 per cent. Overall, an average Indian, after experiencing a 10 per cent increase in 2021 is now experiencing an average increase of 25 per cent. Many senior citizens with independent policies are reporting a much higher increase of over 50 per cent which is putting a squeeze on their retirement finances at a time when costs of most products like fuel, essentials are all rising. Per external estimates as well, post the Covid pandemic, health insurance premiums have increased anywhere between 10-25 per cent for a number of reasons cited by insurance providers including high payouts during the last two years. After thousands of posts and comments were received pertaining to the sizable increase in health insurance premiums by <keyword id="6379818" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="localcircles" source="Orion">LocalCircles</keyword>, it decided to conduct a national survey to quantify the pain of citizens and to understand the increase in health insurance premiums at an aggregate level. The study which collected over 20,000 responses in two periods of August 2021 and August 2022 from citizens located in 287 districts of <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> asked people about the increase in health insurance premiums they experienced. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/mercedes-benz-says-25-of-its-sales-in-india-will-be-electric-by-2027/articleshow/93771806.cms">Mercedes-Benz says 25% of its sales in India will be electric by 2027, plans to launch three new electric cars this year</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/icc-releases-standing-tickets-for-india-pakistan-mens-t20-world-cup-clash/articleshow/93770266.cms">ICC releases standing tickets for India-Pakistan Men's T20 World Cup clash</a>

Nearly 62% health insurance policy holders surveyed saw their premiums increase

<ul><li>Currently, <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> spends only 1.2% of its GDP on <keyword id="6354525" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="healthcare">healthcare</keyword>. </li><li>the government has passed the National <keyword id="6354750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="health">Health</keyword> Policy (NHP) to increase the public healthcare spending to 2.5% of the GDP with a special focus on the underprivileged. </li><li>Once launched <keyword id="344159" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="MODICARE">Modicare</keyword> will be world's largest government-run insurance scheme of its kind. </li></ul>India spends only 1.2% of its GDP on healthcare. And with that figure, the country ranks in lower than Singapore that has one of the lowest public health expenditures in the world at 2.2% amongst countries with significant United Health Care (UHC) services. If that 1.2% was not a figure dismal enough, India spends<a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS"> 2.5%</a> of its GDP for military purposes. It is time the country resets its priorities. With<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/healthcare-costs-drove-55-million-indians-below-poverty-line-in-the-last-two-decades/articleshow/64573439.cms"> 55 million Indians</a> falling below the poverty line in a single year because of heavy medical expenses and no help from the government, the poor also have very little to choose from when it comes to public and private healthcare. While public healthcare maybe the best that they can afford, the standards of public hospitals are deplorable, and private facilities are far too expensive. India's per capita public expenditure on health was as low as ₹621 in 2009-10. Though it increased to ₹1,112 ($16) in 2015-16, it seems almost absurd when compared to countries like the US and the UK with expenditures of $4,802 and $3,500 respectively. But perhaps, things can change now. To make the situation better, the government has finally passed the National Health Policy (NHP) which commits to spending 2.5% of the GDP on healthcare with a special focus on the underprivileged. Dr Ravi Wankhedkar told <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/govt-spends-only-1-2-of-gdp-on-healthcare-in-india/articleshow/60963195.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">The Times of India</a> that the national president of Indian Medical Association (IMA) for 2018, the spending should have been raised to at least 5%. NHP will also extend its focus on shifting from “sick care” or cure to “wellness” or prevention. The policy further promises to venture into a new concept of “strategic purchasing” from the private sector to achieve the national health goals. It also has envisioned targets to reduce the Maternal Mortality Ratio, and Infant Mortality Rate significantly. The situation may improve even further with the <keyword id="3664127" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Health-Protection-Scheme">National Health Protection Scheme</keyword> (NHPS) that the government is planning to launch soon. The scheme plans to target over 100 million poor families with an annual health cover of ₹0.5 million per family. Often called Modicare, once it is launched, will be world's largest government-run insurance scheme of its kind. According to the health minister, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/JP-Nadda">JP Nadda</a>, the scheme will be able to significantly bring down the citizen’s ‘out of pocket’ expenditure on health, which pushes millions of Indians below the poverty line every year. India’s ‘out of pocket’ expenditure currently stands on 67.78% against the the world average of 18.2%, according to WHO. Though the schemes seem progressive, they have been strongly <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/centre-cleared-the-long-awaited-national-health-policy-2017/article17487845.ece">criticised by activists</a> because it scrapped a section of the final draft which proposed to make health a fundamental right. They believe that the failure to provide healthcare should have serious legal consequences and without that provision, the policy remains a hollow promise.

India spends just 1.2% of its GDP on healthcare, but a policy can change that

<keyword id="3163048" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup-culture-in-India">Startup culture in India</keyword> is on the rise. Many professionals who were previously working in big firms and companies abroad are leaving their lucrative jobs to start their own venture in India. As per <a href="http://www.iamwire.com/2015/10/nasscom-startup-ecosystem-report-2015-india-the-next-tech-hotbed/124497">NASSCOM Startup Ecosystem Report 2015</a>, India stands third in the world, in terms of number of <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword> in the country. By the end of last year, India witnessed a staggering 40% growth in the startup ecosystem. 
 
However, the competition is cutting edge and sustaining in a fast pacing market comes with a set of challenges. While, you may have a great business idea with immense potential, for that idea to turn into a reality is a totally different ball game. What you need is the backing of team of talented resources who can live and feel the dream and vision you have for your company. 
 
You need a blend of top of the line IT professionals and managers who can oversee development and marketing of your product or service. However, getting talented pool resources onboard is not as easy as it sounds. 
 
There are a number of things that you might have to consider, such as: 
 
· How much salary should I commit to my potential employees starting from executive to managerial level staff? 
· Should I include stock or equity as part of the compensation? 
· Should I provide a good group insurance plan for my employees? 
 
The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/20-negotiation-tips-for-getting-the-salary-you-want/articleshow/51146629.cms">decision on matters related to salary</a> and stock remuneration is affected by a number of external factors. These determents include the previous salary withdrawn by your potential employees, their expertise and skills sets, the current evaluation of your company, the existing industry standards so on and so forth. However, when it comes to offering a group insurance plan, it is strictly an internal policy of the company. 
 
Unlike the West, in India employers are not obliged to offer insurance plans to their employees. However, recently several mid-sized companies have begun offering insurance plan to maintain an employee friendly culture and to earn goodwill in the market. Including an insurance plan as part of the salary package can assist in recruitment as well as employee retention, which is one of the top most priorities of a startup enterprise. 
 
Why should you buy group insurance policy for your employees? 
 
· A solid health plan insurance policy can help you attract employees to your startup. 
· Offering group insurance policy is an effective way to enhance the compensation package of your employees. 
· Benefits such as health insurance policies add to employee satisfaction. 
· Plays a big part in employee retention and talent acquisition. 
· Helps create goodwill in the market, which is important in a competitive ecosystem. 
· Helps you provide added health coverage to your employee’s immediate family members. 
· Employee satisfaction and friendly policies in turn boost performance of your workforce. 
 
Things to consider before selecting a Group Insurance plan: 
 
Before we take this discussion further, it is relevant that we reinforce this question again as to why do companies offer corporate health insurance plan to their employees? The answer to this question is simple and worth noting. In India, majority of the people pay for health expenses out of their own pocket. The rising cost of health and onslaught of lifestyle diseases is urging people take health insurance cover more seriously. 
 
However, instead of taking health plans to their own, people rely upon their employees to offer them a corporate health cover. Offering employee friendly policies can go a long way into creating a loyal workforce and employee satisfaction. And in some cases, employees value a good health plan over higher salary compensations. 
 
Most startup companies have a relatively young and healthy work-force. Therefore, a group insurance plan, such as those provided by <a href="http://securenow.in/">SecureNow, India’s leading health insurance distributor</a> are great for a startup enterprise .So, as owner of a startup company; you must pay attention to the following features of the group insurance plan: 
 
· Make sure that the health plan provides medi-claim coverage to the employee as well as immediate family members, parents, spouse or children. 
· Inclusion of maternity benefits in the insurance plan will help you create positive image of a company as a women friendly work enterprise. 
· You could also consider including health cover for pre-existing medical conditions of your employees as well. 
 
India is slowly transforming into a startup hub, which is great for the country’s economy as it will create more job opportunities in the market. This indirectly will curtail the rising cost of health treatment, which at the moment is one of the biggest concerns for the health industry. The <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/start-up-india-stand-up-india/1/573128.html">Government of India has chalked out some interesting scheme</a> and plans to boost the ongoing startup revolution in the country. It is therefore extremely important to create a young brigade of work force which feels financially secured and productive to transform India into an economic and investment destination of this world. 
 
(The article is authored by <a href="https://plus.google.com/+UtkarshSahu9?rel=author">Utkarsh Sahu</a>, a digital strategist and contributor to business magazines, such as Business Insider, Huffington Post, Tech Radar, etc.) 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Things
to consider when selecting group insurance for a startup

New Delhi, June 23 () Amid mounting COVID-19 cases in the country, regulator IRDAI on Tuesday allowed the health and general insurers to offer short-term health insurance policies that will give coverage against the coronavirus infection. With an objective of making available insurance protection to various sections of people in the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, it is considered that short-term health insurance policies providing coverages specific to COVID-19 disease is the need of the hour, it said in a circular. Accordingly, all insurers (life, general and health) are allowed to offer COVID–19 specific short-term health insurance policies subject to the guidelines, said the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). "Short-term policies may be issued for a minimum term of three months to a maximum term of eleven months. "In between three months and eleven months, the policy term shall be in multiples of completed months," it said while issuing the guidelines. However, a policy term less than three months is not permitted. IRDAI asked the insurers to devise inclusive short-term health insurance products "where waiting periods are part of the product, such waiting period shall not exceed 15 days". Life insurers are permitted to offer only benefit based short-term health insurance policies while general and health insurers can offer both indemnity based and benefit-based policies. The guidelines will remain valid for issue of short-term policies till March 31, 2021 unless extended further. As per the guidelines, short-term health policy means any health insurance policy contract which has been issued for a policy term of less than 12 months. Short-term policies can be offered both as individual or group products, the circular said. Earlier in March, IRDAI had asked the general and health insurers to design need-based products covering costs of treatment of coronavirus disease. NKD CS MKJ

IRDAI allows insurers to offer short-term health policies against COVID-19

New Delhi, Apr 2 () Insurance regulator IRDAI has asked insurers to extend dates for renewal of health insurance policies, which are expiring during the coronavirus lockdown duration, till April 21. A notification to this effect was issued by the Department of Financial Services, Government of India, on April 1, 2020. "The central government has directed that policyholders whose health insurance policies fall due for renewal during the period on and from March 25 up to April 14, and who are unable to make payment of their renewal premium on time in view of the prevailing situation in the country as a result of COVID-19 are allowed to make premium payment for renewal of policies to their insurers on or before April 21, 2020 to ensure continuity of the health insurance cover," the circular said. Policyholders shall be required to pay the renewal premium for the entire period of 12 months from the date it was due, on or before April 21, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said. Besides, it said, insurers will communicate the above details to the concerned policyholders including through e-mail, SMS, telephonically, display on website etc immediately in a manner that is correctly understood by them. When the policy is issued after receipt of premium due on or before the last date indicated above, it will be ensured that the period of cover commences from the date the renewal was due without there being any break in the policy period provided such renewal fell due within the lockdown period, it said. The regulator also asked the insurers to ensure that adequate arrangements are made for ease of payment of premium by policyholders during the week following the end of the lockdown period. DP MKJ

Extend date for health insurance policy renewal till Apr 21: IRDAI to insurers

Chennai, Mar 13 (): Private health insurer Star Healthand Allied Insurance on Friday said it has unveiled a newpolicy to incentivise health-conscious millennials.    The Young Star Insurance policy covers 18-40 year olds fortheir specific healthcare requirements. It offers benefitssuch as incentive-led wellness programmes and lowest waitingperiods among others, a press release said.    The Young Star policy is available on an individual basisand also as a family floater plan and the sum insured rangesfrom Rs three lakh to Rs one crore.    The policy offers an additional basic sum insured of 25per cent (or upto Rs one lakh) on any road accidentsrequiring in-patient hospitalisation.    "Through our consumer engagements, we understood thatmillennials are reticent to purchase health insurance tomitigate their healthcare expenses, as they find features inthe current offerings do not pertain to their needs," thecompany managing director Anand Roy said.    "We have designed the Young Star policy to includebenefits such as lifelong premium renewal discounts,instalment premium options, wellness programmes to manage andget incentivised on good health," he said.    In FY 2019, Star Health has procured a gross writtenpremium of Rs 5,412 crore. It has over 11,000 employees and500 branches across India.  VIJNVG   NVG

Star Health unveils insurance cover targeted at millennials

With the world economy heading towards a possible slowdown and India being one of the major economies having any real chances of growing at a faster rate, everyone will be looking forward to how this year’s Budget will address the issue of stagnating private investment in India. With proper fiscal incentives in place, the <keyword id="35450" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="insurance">insurance</keyword> industry (being one of the major sources of long-term funds for the economy) can play a bigger role in pushing up public and private-sector investment and thus, help in achieving government’s goal of putting Indian economy on a high-speed track. 
	 
	Following is my wish list for 2016 Union Budget. 
	 
	A uniform <keyword id="167905" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="KYC">KYC</keyword> 
	 
	Unlike e-policy holders, offline insurance buyers have to undergo a lot of paperwork, as part of KYC procedures. In addition to this, insurers usually call for multiple KYCs for different policies and this act as deterrent for new investors to invest in insurance policies. Government must consider giving a strong push to uniform KYC and e-claims, irrespective of whether the policy is purchased online or offline. This would make the process of buying insurance policies and filing claims easier. 
	 
	Revise tax exemptions 
	 
	At present, premium of up to Rs.25000 paid for health insurance plans qualify for deduction under Section 80D. This limit rests at Rs.30000 in case of senior citizens. Tax exemption under health insurance plan should be revised as the current incentive is inadequate, taking into consideration the rising healthcare cost. Just to give you an example, a 55yr old sole earner in a family of 4 would easily spend upwards of Rs.30000 per annum for Rs.10lacs sum insured. Also, the current exemption does not provide incentives for those who buy long term health insurance plan. Increasing the income tax exemption limit in health insurance will encourage people to buy health policies with larger covers, and for longer tenure. 
	 
	Tax exemption for home insurance 
	 
	While catastrophic destruction caused by natural calamities such as Chennai floods and Nepal earthquake influenced people to think about getting their home and property insured, people continue to remain hesitant about getting their property insured and hence, end up procrastinating it. Home insurance enables people to deal with huge financial losses that they would otherwise incur in case of natural disasters. Introducing tax exemptions on house insurance premiums would encourage homeowners to insure their homes. 
	 
	Make term insurance attractive 
	 
	At present, term insurance products constitute just 0.4% of the total insurance products sold in India. Distributors find term insurance products unattractive as their payouts, as per current regulation, is just above zero percent. The cap on the payouts needs to be relaxed to make selling term insurance attractive for the distributors. This would go a long way in increasing the average life insurance coverage of Indians. 
	 
	To sum up, as low insurance penetration is a problem area, the FM should increase tax incentives to encourage people to buy adequate insurance cover. This will also help the insurance industry to raise more resources for financing government’s physical and social infrastructure programs. 
	 
	The article is authored by Alok Bansal, Co-founder and CFO of online insurance comparision portal <keyword id="696009" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Policybazaar">Policybazaar</keyword>.com.

Mr FM! This is what the insurance industry want from Budget 2016

New Delhi, Jan 2 () Regulator Irdai on Thursday issued guidelines on standard individual health insurance, asking the general and health insurers to offer product that can take care of basic health needs of customers with maximum sum insured of Rs 5 lakh and a minimum of Rs 1 lakh.
The product will be named as Arogya Sanjeevani Policy, succeeded by the name of the insurance company. No other name is allowed in any of the documents, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said in its guideline.
"The health insurance market is having a number of individual health insurance products. Each product has unique features and the insuring public may find it a challenge to choose an appropriate product. Therefore,...the Authority has decided to mandate all general and health insures to offer the standard individual health insurance product," the regulator said.
The standard product should have the basic mandatory covers, no add-ons or optional covers are allowed to be offered along with the standard product and the insurer may determine the price keeping in view the covers proposed to be offered subject to complying with Irdai guidelines, it added.
"The standard product shall be offered on indemnity basis only and the policy tenure shall be for a period of one year".
The mandatory covers under the standard health product include hospitalisation expenses, other expenses such as cataract subject to sub-limits, dental treatment and plastic surgery that have been necessitated due to disease or injury, all day care treatments and expenses on road ambulance subject to a maximum of Rs 2,000 per hospitalisation.
It should also include expenses incurred on hospitalisation under AYUSH treatment, pre-hospitalisation expenses incurred for a period of 30 days prior to the date of hospitalisation, post-hospitalisation expenses for a period of 60 days from the date of discharge from hospital.
With respect to cumulative bonus, Irdai said sum insured (excluding the bonus) should be increased by 5 per cent for each claim-free policy year, subject to condition, the policy is renewed without a break subject to maximum of 50 per cent of sum insured.
"No deductibles are permitted in this product. No plan variants are allowed. Standard product shall be offered on family floater basis also and it should not be combined with critical illness covers or benefit based covers," the regulator said.
The product may be distributed across all channels including micro insurance agents, point of sale persons and common public service centers.
Irdai has fixed the minimum entry age as 18 and maximum as 65 years and said the policy is subject to lifelong renewability.
"The standard product shall comply with portability provisions and the premium under this product shall be pan India basis and no geographic location or zone pricing is allowed," it said further.
The standard product may be offered as micro insurance product, subject to sum insured limits and the product can be launched without prior approval from the authority, subject to certain conditions, Irdai said.
It has also directed every general and standalone health insurer, who has been issued a certificate of registration to transact general/health insurance business, to mandatorily offer this product.
General and health insurers should offer this product from April 1, 2020 onwards, the regulator said further. KPM BAL

Offer standard health policies with maximum sum insured Rs 5 lakh: Irdai to insurers

The insurance sector is expected to fly high with the opening up of FDI in the sector. Industry players expect innovation and new insurance products to come in the market, thus giving consumers a wider variety of choices. However, until now, the the $66.4 billion industry has been driven by only a handful of insurance products. BI India brings you some of the popular insurance products in the market and the reason behind their undisputed domination. 
 
<keyword id="514336" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Endowment-Plan">Endowment Plan</keyword> 
 We all buy a life insurance policy the moment we get our first job. A buyer is often lured into buying a life insurance product through its tax benefits. <keyword id="161880" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yashish-Dahiya">Yashish Dahiya</keyword>, co-founder of <keyword id="161885" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Policy-Bazaar">Policy Bazaar</keyword> says, “Traditional policies including endowment and term plan sell more because all non-online channels in insurance companies only sell traditional plans. This is primarily because of the commissions that they would normally make by selling it.” 
 
He further explained that traditional life insurance policies offer short term gains to the consumers which include getting a loan against their policy. “In addition to this, traditional plans offer guaranteed benefits to customers vis-à-vis equity-linked investments. The fact that investment under traditional plans is mostly made in specified government and corporate securities, makes them less risky and more suitable for people with lower-risk appetite,” adds Dahiya. 
 
<keyword id="44600" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ULIP">ULIP</keyword> 
 
Unit Linked Insurance Product or commonly known as ULIP have recently started become popular. The new version of ULIPs that was first introduced in 2014 has been gaining popularity amongst retail investors. It offers dual benefit of life cover as well as investment. 
 
Besides, with the onset of online distribution of ULIP, the premium charges have sharply dropped - with no charges for premium allocation, policy admission or discontinuance, except 2.25% fund management charge per annum (for the first 10 years of holding) and mortality charges. According to industry experts, at present, some of the ULIPs cost less than mutual funds. 
 
“The flexibility extended by ULIP has been attracting significant number of investors. ULIPs provide investors an option to invest either in debt funds, equity funds or hybrid funds. Each of these funds has a different level of risk attached to it and you could choose to invest in either of these funds as per your risk appetite. It also gives investors the option to switch between funds with no tax implications whatsoever,” notes Dahiya. 
 
Motor Insurance 
 
Industry players believe that motor insurance is one of the most popular insurance products as it is mandatory to buy one at the time of purchase of the car. However, when compared with health insurance, the premium amount for motor insurance is relatively lower than that for health insurance. This too is also believed to have contributed in making motor insurance more popular than health in India. 
 
Health insurance 
 
Even though India still ranks low globally when it comes to health insurance, industry players have noted that this insurance product is fast gaining popularity. Market estimates suggested that health insurance is the fourth biggest insurance product, next only to motor insurance. 
 
Property Insurance: 
 
Natural calamities as well as unexpected damages to property has boosted this insurance product in the country. Industry players have attributed this trend to the improved awareness amongst people. “The very fact that most of the insurance companies introduced insurance plans that safeguards properties, commercial and personal assets against fire, reiterates its relevance and demand amongst people at-large,” elaborates Dahiya.

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