The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has on Tuesday allowed specific short-term health insurance policies for Covid-19.

Citing the prevailing conditions in the wake of the virus outbreak and the need to make insurance protection available to all sections of people, the insurance regulator said “health insurance policies providing specific cover to coronavirus is the need of the hour.’’

According to the guidelines, a short-term health policy provides cover for a minimum period of three months to a maximum of 11 months. “If the term of the policy is fixed for 12 months, it will not be considered as a short-term policy,’’ it said.

Optional covers that enhance the health insurance coverage are permitted to be offered for the same duration but no separate add-ons are permitted.

General insurers and health insurers are now allowed to offer both indemnity based and benefit based short term health cover. Life insurers, however, are permitted to offer only benefit based policies. They could be both individual and group products.

All insurers should file the short-term health cover products for due approval from IRDAI and launch them only after approval.

Published on June 23, 2020

A letter from the Editor

Dear Readers,

The coronavirus crisis has changed the world completely in the last few months. All of us have been locked into our homes, economic activity has come to a near standstill.

In these difficult times, we, at BusinessLine, are trying our best to ensure the newspaper reaches your hands every day. You can also access BusinessLine in the e-paper format – just as it appears in print. Our website and apps too, are updated every minute.

But all this comes at a heavy cost. As you are aware, the lockdowns have wiped out almost all our entire revenue stream. That we have managed so far is thanks to your support. I thank all our subscribers – print and digital – for your support.

I appeal to all our readers to help us navigate these challenging times and help sustain one of the truly independent and credible voices in the world of Indian journalism. You can help us by subscribing to our digital or e-paper editions. We offer several affordable subscription plans for our website, which includes Portfolio, our investment advisory section.

Our subscriptions start as low as Rs 199/- per month. A yearly package costs just Rs. 999 – a mere Rs 2.75 per day, less than a third the price of a cup of roadside chai..

A little help from you can make a huge difference to the cause of quality journalism!

Support Quality Journalism