Page 26 - Insurance Times May 2022

Terrorism is covered unless it is explicitly excluded; as it is treatment both in India and abroad under the same policy.
done by some insurers. Not only is sudden emergency hospitalization covered abroad.
Persons going abroad for planned hospitalization, with the
Expenses arising from Adventure sports are covered by a few prior approval of the insurer, can also obtain coverage under
insurers, to a limited extent. Baggage Delays are generally a global health plan. This is a significant feature of this genre
covered when they exceed 24 hours. Most of the coverages of policies as normally persons travelling abroad for planned
also come with their own deductibles or time excess. hospitalization are excluded from overseas travel policies.

Trip cancellation cover pays for cancellation of the trip in Some of the insurers who have launched such products are
advance due to specified reasons, which varies from insurer Religare Health Insurance Company, Max Bupa Health
to insurer. Payouts include unrecoverable expenses due to Insurance, Cigna TTK Health Insurance and Apollo Munich
ticket and hotel cancellations, but the terms and conditions Health Insurance (now HDFC ERGO). This information has
need to be verified carefully. been sourced from the website of the web aggregator Bank
Bazaar, registered by The Insurance Regulatory Authority of
Some innovative overseas travel India.
insurance products Religare Care is one such policy featured in the list of global
The issue of coverage of pre-existing diseases is in my opinion, policies . The policy is available for persons between the ages
a very important dimension of overseas travel insurance of 5 years to 75 years with lifelong renewability. It can be
plans. The costs of hospitalization treatment in USA/Canada availed of by individuals or families on floater basis. As of now
and Europe etc. being prohibitive; it is essential to have there is a sum assured of Rs. 60 lakhs plus . The Global Coverage
adequate cover in this respect. Otherwise the traveller may Benefit allows treatment anywhere in the world. It allows
find his savings wiped out in an instant. Moreover, a pre- for treatment upto a maximum period of 45 days in a single
existing disease cover must also be taken since there is a trip and upto 90 days in all, in a policy year. But additional
preponderance of pre-existing diseases, not only in senior premium has to be paid to extend the cover to the USA. Co-
citizens, but now even within the younger generation. payments are applicable. The treatment coverage that has
been mentioned appears to be fairly comprehensive. However
However, only a handful of overseas travel policies with this it has not been clearly mentioned as to whether all the
condition are to be found online . This data has been taken benefits indicated, are also available for treatment abroad,
from the website of a registered web-aggregator, namely as well. It is also not clear whether cashless treatment can
Instant Cover Insurance Web- Aggregator (EIndia Insurance). be availed of abroad.

In the 55 year old age profile of a traveller wanting a However, critics advise caution prior to opting for global
worldwide cover including USA/Canada for USD 50,000, TATA covers. No doubt, they seem to be a solution to some of the
AIG's Silver Plan under Travel Guard offers a limited cover of constraints presented by standard overseas travel policies;
upto USD 1500 to relieve acute pain or stabilise the patient but it would be prudent to take a considered view of the
for further treatment. Bajaj Allianz's Assist Card Classic covers
pre-existing conditions upto USD 300 (deductible USD 100).
Reliance General Insurance's Travel Care Standard covers
pre-existing diseases which are of a non-critical nature upto
the maximum limit of the sum insured, only in life threatening
conditions. Religare's Explore Platinum $50,000 and Explore
Gold $50,000 cover previously declared pre-existing
conditions only in life-threatening conditions upto a limit of
10% of the sum insured. Thus the customers with pre-existing
conditions have very limited options.

In this backdrop of restricted covers, global health insurance
covers offer a much better option to the customers with pre-
existing conditions. Global Health insurance covers have been
launched by a few Indian insurers. They cover health care

26 The Insurance Times, May 2022