Health insurance portability may miss July 1 kick-off

You may have to wait a little longer to get a portable health insurance policy. Insurance companies are seeking more ‘clarity' and time to implement the portability of health insurance which is supposed to come into effect from July 1, 2011.

Representatives of general insurance companies are meeting Mr J. Hari Narayan, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), on Friday to bring to his notice some issues of immediate concern in switching over to the portable health insurance regime.

“The move is good but there are certain issues to be sorted out before July 1. We, along with other insurers, will be talking to the regulator,” Mr G. Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, United India Insurance Company Ltd, told Business Line .

According to industry experts, the implementation of portability from July 1 would be difficult from a company's perspective.

“Greater clarity is needed on some vital issues. For instance, If we want to accept a health policy from a customer of others, obviously some information on previous medical/claim history is required,” Mr B. Subrahmanyam, Vice-President, Bharati AXA General Insurance Company, said.

There is also confusion on the applicability of portability to various types of health plans which are broadly divided into basic plans and plans with option of benefit component (in case of hospitalisation) and indemnity.

“It is also not understood how portability would be effected from a health plan offered by a life insurance company to a general insurer,” Mr Subrahmanyam said.

“If you see from a customer point of view, there could be hitches as well. The migration from one company to another cannot be a smooth affair if serious issues are not settled,” said the head of a leading general insurance company.

“Many companies, however, have done their groundwork on underwriting, documentation and other procedures to be followed in case IRDA insists on giving the portability without any postponement. But we are hopeful our request will be considered,” he added.

When contacted, a senior IRDA official said the regulator would take a decision keeping in view the interest of the policyholder as well as companies. “First, we have to talk to the companies,” he said.

In February 2011, the IRDA had directed insurers to ensue health policy portability and had also ensured the companies that it would make policy-wise claim history available for effecting quick portability.

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