Reliance Brings a New Health Care Plan for Women and Children

Reliance General announced a new product for women and the girl child, as only 2% of working women have health covers. The product will be officially launched on the 1st of August, and females will avail a special discount of 5%, which will be applicable to widows and children also. Rakesh Jain – chief executive said "There will also be a special discount of 5 percent on the entire premium where the cover is for the girl child," He said the family insurance would include grandparents, parents, parents-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, siblings and grand-daughters. "We have also tied up with as many as 4,200 hospitals across the country for cashless treatment. Also, there is any delay on our part in issuance beyond 10 days, we stand guarantee to additional free-sum insured." He said the premium amount would be decided later. The HealthGain plans included: A family discount of 5% for 2-3 members and a 10% discount for a family of 4-6 members.

An additional 5% will be given to existing car insurance customers. Under Plan A sum insured can be Rs 3, 6 or 9 lakhs. Under plan B, sum assured Rs.1.2, 1.5 or 1.8 million. There is an age bar of 65 years and above for policies which are insured for more than Rs. 30,000. A mandatory health check up is necessary for those above 46 years under plan A and 18 years under plan B.

The sum insured can be doubled within policy period. A waiting period of 30 days for general health issues, 24 months for named ailments and 36 months for pre-existing illnesses. Jain felt women relied on husbands for economic and social status; there is always a risk where healthcare is concerned.

"Women account for 20 percent of the workforce in our country. But just 10 percent of them end up having healthcare cover. So the penetration of health insurance is just 2 percent of working women," he said. Giving some more statistics on health insurance, Jain said less than 5 percent of people are covered by one or the other form of non-government-supported scheme.

"In terms of overall healthcare spend, which is worth some $30 billion in our country annually, health insurance accounts for just 10 percent of that. This shows the potential this segment of healthcare holds. "We are targeting 400,000 lives in the first year of coverage."

References:

Advertisement

Hannah Punitha (IRDA Licence Number: 2710062)

Business Standard July 2013

Advertisement

Source-Medindia