Page 14 - Insurance Times May 2022

Nova Benefits rolls out tation or gender identity. However, vironment, and relationships. It in-
standard health insurance plans do not cludes modules including home care
same-sex corporate health consider relationships beyond hetero- preparedness, healthy kitchen
insurance cover for com- sexual couples, making equal access to analyser, health insurance design, air

panies healthcare benefits a challenge. quality optimisation, and sleep environ-
ment upgrade.
Nova Benefits, an employee wellness Resolute announces the
platform centred on corporate health launch of its Family Health Health insurance to cover
insurance, has announced the roll-out
of LGBTQIA+ or same-sex corporate Design tools 89 lakh families in Bihar
health insurance cover for companies, Resolute, an integrated digital health The state government will provide an-
said a statement. & wellness service offering virtual care, nual health insurance of Rs5 lakh to the
The firm aims to provide companies with precision wellness, and doctor-led pro- poor families not covered under
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana
equal and inclusive high-quality em- grams for the whole family announces (PM-JAY). The new scheme, christened
ployee wellness benefits. It is currently the launch of its family health design Mukhyamantri Jan Arogya Yojana (CM-
providing LGBTQIA+ corporate health tools. JAY), was approved by the state cabi-
insurance to several companies, includ- Resolute’s Family Health Design is a set net at its meeting on Monday. It is
ing Snapdeal, SplashLearn, FlexiLoans of evidence-based paths and tools for expected to start from May.
Technologies, and Dev Synthesis. improving the health status of the en-
Organisations have the responsibility to tire family. It’s a Whole Person, Whole The new health insurance scheme will
work on the similar pattern as that of
ensure employee wellness, along with Family Approach to ensure the healthi- PM-JAY, popularly known as Ayushman
taking charge of diversity and inclusion est life possible for everyone. With this
tool, families can design and execute Bharat. In the state scheme, too, the
needs in the working environment. beneficiaries will be given a card. The
Similarly, when it comes to healthcare, their goals together for everlasting state government has taken the help of
employees and their families must be health and happiness. National Food Security Act to find the
provided equal access, with no discrimi- The family health design tools cover number of needy people not covered
nation on the grounds of sexual orien- dimensions of medical, well-being, en-
under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
For instance, as per PM-JAY, nearly 1.09
Covid-related health insurance claims doubled in crore families are covered in Bihar and

FY22 due to Delta variant the state government found another 89
lakh families, who were eligible under
Covid-19 cases may have eased in recent months and the third wave was not
the NFSA but not covered under the
as severe as expected, but Covid related health insurance claims surged this Ayushman Bharat scheme.
fiscal, possibly led by the Delta variant. Insurers continue to remain under pres-
sure despite increased awareness and purchase of such covers. Now, these 89 lakh families will also get
the health insurance from the state.
While there were 9.83 lakh Covid related claims in 2020-21, these surged to Health department additional chief
19.47 lakh in the current fiscal, recording an increase of 98 per cent. As the secretary Pratyaya Amrit called this
second wave of the pandemic led to many cases of hospitalisation, Covid claims scheme as a ‘game changer’.
also increased dramatically. The average ticket size of Covid related claims
across the industry also remains high at Rs. 91,881. Health department additional secre-
tary-cum-Bihar Swastha Suraksha
"Although there is greater awareness and purchase of health insurance poli- Samiti CEO Kaushal Kishore said the
cies, the premium remains at the same level as pre-Covid times. As an indus- guidelines for CM-JAY will be almost
try, the losses in the entire health portfolio are quite high and much more similar to that of the PMJAY.
than what the industry has earned as premium," said Bhaskar Nerurkar,
Head, Health Claims, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, adding that non - Covid “Here, too, the secondary and tertiary
care hospitalisation cost will be in-
claims have also reached pre-pandemic levels and people are continuing with
planned and elective surgeries. curred by the state government. Same
hospitals, which are empanelled under
"There is also increased awareness about Covid and health insurance, which PM-JAY, will be used for providing treat-
has led to higher purchases of such policies, and in a way contributed to more ment facilities to these families,” said
claims," noted another insurer.
Kishore. T
14 The Insurance Times, May 2022