With little respite in sight from the rising number of COVID-19 positive cases in India, insurance regulator IRDAI may soon issue instructions on mainstreaming or renewing the short-term Corona Kavach cover.
“We are thinking of ways and means,” said T.L. Alamelu, Member (Non Life), IRDAI, at an Assocham event.
“Probably sooner than later we will issue instructions on how it can be mainstreamed or renewed or there could be features of porting, migration.”
To a query on the road ahead forCorona Kavach, a cover health insurers began offering since July 10 following a mandate from IRDAI, she said “I think we were very optimistic in thinking everything is going to end probably in a few months.
“I don’t think that is going to happen soon.”
Though most of the people who bought the policy opted for the longest tenure of 9.5 months, IRDAI wants them to continue getting good cover not only for COVID-19 but for entire health spectrum, she added.
These policies are popular. “Initially, there was huge growth. Even now, week-on-week there is a 15% growth in [the number of] policies,” she said, pointing out to how public awareness of health insurance had also grown exponentially. The share of health insurance business has grown from 27% in March to 30% in July.
Last month, the IRDAI Member had told a meeting that in a little over a month of the launch about 7.5 lakh Corona Kavach policies were sold, around 12.86 lakh people covered and the premium collected was ₹215 crore.
She said IRDAI is also planning an initiative on the health claim settlement front in which everyone in the ecosystem is to be involved and that overtime could be stitched up with the National Digital Health Mission. She also encouraged policyholders to share their health records with the Mission as it will eventually help in making health insurance pricing more realistic.