Page 13 - Insurance Times May 2022

Health Insurance

News

ICICI Lombard mobile app revised rates during the pandemic, have Star Health, had said in its analyst call
now sought a revision in pricing to keep in February that it has taken about an
to provide health vitals up with medical inflation. The regulator average hike of 15% on its flagship
ICICI Lombard General Insurance is allows insurers to revise prices once health insurance policy from August
making available to all its app users a every three years to keep up with ris- 2021. The new rates will apply to all
face scan diagnostic feature that pro- ing costs. However, many companies policies purchased or renewed thereaf-
vides within minutes vitals such as blood had waited for the volatility claims dur- ter. Company officials also said that they
pressure, oxygen saturation, heart ing the pandemic to settle down. were relooking at group health insur-
rate, respiration rate and stress level.
According to sources, HDFC Ergo and ance policies. In the call, Star Health
According to the company, the read- Care Health had received approval for chairman V Jagannathan said that prod-
ings have an accuracy of 92-95%. The products with revising pricing. A few ucts are priced assuming a normal situ-
data will not be used for underwriting others including NivaBupa have applied ation and one-time incidence cannot be
or medical intervention, but is provided to the regulator for revised products. a continuous incidence.
as an additional feature for customers
to maintain wellness. Public awareness needed for health insurance
The underlying technology that is used Health insurance awareness must be increased to help India overcome a poor
by the app is photoplethysmography global ranking in patient safety, said KIMSHEALTH Chairman and Managing
(PPG) - the same that is used in pulse Director, MI Sahadulla. Even while improving its personalised health index,
oximeters. This measures changes in the country ranks 66th in the world rankings on patient safety, the 2002-
light absorption in blood vessels to founded multi-specialty hospital group's chief pointed out, stressing on the
measure blood volume changes, based need for people to go in for medical cover in a big way.
on which vitals are calculated. "We would splurge on luxuries such as cars, mansions and jewellery, but would
"Face scan feature is a powerful inno- refrain from investing some Rs. 15,000 a year on annual family health insur-
vation to democratise health checks, ance," Sahadulla noted.
going beyond the realm of a transac- Sahadulla, who is also the Chairman of the CAHOCON-organising committee,
tional relationship to delivering a fric- said health cover has become essential in today's world, which is recovering
tionless and engaging experience in from the ill-effects of the pandemic. "The Coronavirus has taught us the need
the current times," said ICICI Lombard to become conscious of the pitfalls in medical care," he noted. "Healthcare
ED Sanjeev Mantri. delivery was never perfect even in advanced countries, but Covid-19 has un-
derscored the vitality of guarding against health risks."
Insurers seek revision in
Besides low awareness, healthcare suffers from an under-reporting of medi-
premium for health prod- cal errors and insufficient training for the hospital staff, he said. India, unlike
ucts the West, is not equipped with strong statistics that can enable the country
go for a futuristic healthcare policy.
Some Non-life Insurers, which had not
The Insurance Times, May 2022 13