Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Mar 09, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Mar 09, 2004 |
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Health Industry & Economy - Economy Money & Banking - General Insurance Insurance cover for family planning in the works — `It could act as check on rising population'
Sarbajeet K. Sen
New Delhi , March 8 WHAT should you do to reduce your risk against the impact of possible unforeseen calamities that might strike in future? Buy an insurance cover, of course. The Government knows this only too well and is now preparing to come out with an insurance cover of a different kind. This one's aimed at minimising the risk of the entire country against an impending calamity of a different kind - population explosion. The policy, still under design, would provide a cover to all persons who willingly undertake family planning measures such as tubectomy and vasectomy ... any medical intervention that takes away a person's ability to procreate. The framework for the policy is being worked out by the Health Ministry in consultation with the insurance division of the Ministry of Finance. Sources said that a few rounds of discussions have already been held between senior officials of the two Ministries and some general insurance companies to work out the modalities. The benefits under the policy would, however, not flow to the parents who decide to give up their reproductive abilities but to their children. Thus, the children who are born to such couples would be eligible for several benefits including comprehensive health cover for a specified number of years. Senior Health Ministry officials said, "It could act as a check on the growing population. The policy will cover all diseases for the children of such parents till up to five years of age. We are working out the modalities of making the policy operational, including premium structure and other issues such as delivery channels. We are talking to insurance companies too." The Government is yet to finalise the budget for this insurance scheme. However, there is likely to be a cut-off on the number of children of a couple who would be eligible for the benefits. The possible number is two children, which is the maximum size of an ideal family that the Government has been mentioning in its family planning campaign promotions. Thus, if a couple have more children than the cut-off number, the rest have to forego the insurance benefits. The Ministry is also looking at offering maternity-related insurance cover. "Currently, no such specific products are available. These products are being considered to encourage child delivery through recognised institutions such as hospitals," officials said. "On the maternity-related insurance cover, the problem is the cost of deliveries. Different hospitals charge different rates for Caesarean deliveries. The fee charged by private hospitals is substantially higher that of Government hospitals. Hence, the pricing of such policies is difficult."
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