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Radhika Menon

Mumbai, Sept. 2 New India Assurance will shortly launch a special health insurance product for senior citizens.

The unique feature of the plan is that the ‘pre-existing disease clause’ for rejecting claims will be valid for just 18 months. A pre-existing disease is any ailment (like diabetes) that the insured is already suffering from at the time of applying for the policy. Insurers will not pay a claim if a person develops the disease during the window period.

“Under most health insurance policies, the period for which the pre-existing disease clause is applicable is four years. We have reduced it to 18 months, especially for senior citizens,” said a senior official at New India Assurance.

Persons suffering from hypertension and diabetes, however, can also avail themselves of New India’s new scheme by paying a 10 per cent loading on the premium.

The premium under the plan ranges from Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,600 for a cover of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh. Persons between 60 and 80 years are eligible for the scheme after a pre-acceptance health check-up. Policyholders between 80 and 85 can renew their plan by paying an extra 10 per cent in premium while those between 86 and 90 will have to chip in an extra 20 per cent.

The scheme, however, requires the insured to make a compulsory co-payment of 10 per cent in the case of a claim. For a 10 per cent discount in the premium, the policyholders can opt for increasing the co-payment of a claim to 20 per cent. There are also sub limits that are woven into the policy.

For instance, if a person is hospitalised, not more than 1 per cent of the sum assured can be spent on the room rent per day and not more than 2 per cent per day on the rent for the Intensive Care Unit. An overall limit of 25 per cent of the sum assured has been fixed per illness for rent charges.

The policy also fixes a limit of 25 per cent of the sum assured on the fees of the surgeon or anaesthetist and 50 per cent of the sum assured on services like blood, oxygen and X-rays, among others.

More Stories on : Social Security | General Insurance | New Products & Services | Health

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