Simply Save podcast | Hikes in health insurance premiums: How policyholders can keep premiums in check

Health insurance policies have seen a host of changes since October 1, 2020. All policies renewed post this date have had to comply with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s (IRDAI) standardisation of exclusion norms. New products launched after October 1, 2019, are already compliant with these regulations. Now, insurers cannot exclude certain ailments such as mental health and congenital conditions anymore, as we discussed in our earlier podcast.

In addition, they also have to cover modern treatment procedures like cyber knife, robotic surgeries and stem cell therapy. Definition of pre-existing diseases, which is the source of several disputes between insurers and policyholders, too, has been standardised. That is, all insurers will have abide by the IRDAI-mandated definition, thus reducing the scope for confusion in policyholders’ minds.

All these changes are welcome from the policyholders’ perspective, but they are bound to push up premiums when policies come up for renewal. And some policyholders have indeed reported exorbitant premium hikes.