Page 64 - Ebook health insurance IC27

The Insurance Times

Questions and Answers

Q1. Discuss the health insurance products available in the following segments:
a) Hospitalization Indemnity Products - The Health Insurance in India is mainly

dominated by a product category named as hospitalization indemnity product.
These products protect individuals from the expenditure they may need to incur in
the event of a hospitalization, and in most cases, 1 month of pre hospitalization
expenses and 2 months of post hospitalization expenses related to the
hospitalization. Such cover is provided 'on an indemnity' basis, that is by making
good part or all of the losses incurred or amount spent.

This is in contrast with benefit policy where a lump sum is paid on occurrence of a
certain event, like hospitalization, diagnosis of critical illness etc. In India, there are
over 30 insurers offering more than 300 different products, most of them being
hospitalization indemnity product. Even within this category, these differ in their
scope of cover, as to what could be covered under the policy.

Usually there is separate coverage for the hospital bed/room, patient's diet,
professional fees of doctors, surgery and operation theatre charges, medicines
and consumables etc.

On the other hand, usually the products vary on their coverage of items like
transplantation, hospitalization expenses of organ donor, cost of artificial limbs,
cost of pacemakers, cost of haemodialysis, coverage of ambulance charges, number
of days of pre and post hospitalization expenses, any reimbursement for periodic
health check up and for cost of surgeries done under day care.

6 8 Guide for Health Insurance