Page 12 - Insurance Times February 2022

Health Insurance

News

Rejections of insurance "We should be very careful and any Air India is at about 50,000, of these,
abuse of such cocktail antibody should about 30,000 have opted for the post-
claims for antibody cock- be avoided," Prakash told. retirement medical scheme.
tail rise Hospitals across Kolkata confirm that The official quoted above added that
Even as the number of Covid-19 cases with the upsurge in the number of this is not a pre-condition for the trans-
witness a steep rise in the wake of the cases, there has been a rise in demand fer of the airline to its new owners -
new variant Omicron, there has been a for antibody cocktail therapy as com- Tata Group - but was a big concern of
steady rise in demand for monoclonal pared to the second wave caused by retired employees.
antibody cocktail therapy. While insur- the Delta variant. The government has assured retired
ance companies say they have been employees that their medical benefits
honouring the claims arising out of this "Typically, 10 per cent of the total will continue and also provided job pro-
line of treatment, hospitals say there number of patients admitted for Covid tection to all existing employees for a
has been rise in rejections as insurers are administered this therapy at early period of 12 months from the transfer
say it is experimental drug therapy. stage of onset of symptoms before they
start witnessing a decline in oxygen of the airline.
The antibody cocktail therapy saturation levels," said Dr Aviral Roy, Air India has about 10,000 employees
(Casirivimab and Imdevimab) are given Consultant - Critical Care, Medica on its rolls as on date and about 5,000
together as soon as possible after test- Superspecialty Hospital. of them will retire in the next five
ing positive for Covid and within 10 years.
days of the onset of symptoms. It is
usually administered to elderly Covid Retired Air India staffers The Tata Group won a bid (through a
patients who are prone to multiple co- to continue to get health holding company Talace) to buy 100%
morbidities such as diabetes, hyper- cover stake in Air India along with AI Express
tension, diseases related to heart, liver, and 50% stake in ground handling
kidney; post-transplant patients; and In a huge relief for retired Air India company AISATS and the government
also to those undergoing chemo employees, the government has plans to transfer ownership to the Tata
therapy. The drugs typically come in a finalised a solution to the key issue of group before the end of this month.
pack of two doses, each costing be- providing medical insurance to all re- Bajaj Allianz launches
tween Rs. 56,000-60,000. tired employees of Air India - one of
their key concerns. "Retired employ- Health Prime rider
According to Dr S Prakash, Managing
Director, Star Health and Allied Insur- ees will get CGHS facility for their OPD Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, an-
requirement and National Health In- nounced the launch of its unique
ance, the cocktail antibody therapy surance Scheme for their
was considered effective against the 'Health Prime' rider. This rider can be
Delta variant. However, experts have hospitalisation requirements," said a availed along with the company's
expressed their apprehensions regard- top government official, who did not health insurance and personal acci-
ing the efficacy of the treatment for want to be identified. dent policies.
the Omicron variant. The number of retired employees at The idea behind this rider is to provide

12 The Insurance Times, February 2022