COVID Insurance Coverage: Herd Immunity for Insurers or is Coverage Spreading?

For the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has been a permanent fixture on “Breaking News” on almost every TV channel. News and views, opinions and hard facts, research, and remedies have all hit the headlines in print media. The medical community is as swamped by news overload as the patients they treat. ‘COVID-19 Insurance Coverage’ is much needed for people after facing a huge outbreak of Covid-19.

Across the globe, statistics reveal that confirmed cases have crossed 290 million, with more than five million dead. New variants are emerging at bewildering speed, and the latest Omicron variant is sweeping the world’s population.

In India, the number of vaccinated people stands at more than 145 crores, but the Omicron virus has targeted more than 1700 people as of date.

Treatment costs have been rising, not just for the actual disease but for the plethora of after effects and side effects that seem to follow an attack.

Insurance Industry Response

In the midst of all this, what is the insurance industry’s response?

Looking at the last two years, several predictions have been debunked or overturned.

The impact on businesses, commercial property, worker’s compensation, and business interruption has been enormous. Life, health, travel, property damage, and disability compensation are the insurance products that have been tweaked to cover Corona-related claims.

The industry has responded quite fast regarding health insurance, with Corona-specific coverage.

The IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India) has approved two standard Covid specific health insurance plans: The Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak. If you are covered under a group insurance policy, you must check whether it covers Corona treatment expenses.

The IRDAI has advised all insurance companies to ensure that IRDAI approved Corona-specific standard health insurance products should continue to be provided as per the insurer’s underwriting policies. Wherever these Corona-specific health plans enable policyholders to renew their policies, they should be renewed subject to the insurer’s underwriting policies.

Most private insurance companies have launched their own Corona-specific products that cover all hospitalization, AYUSH treatments, home treatments, along with the cost of consumables.

All your existing health insurance policies will cover the costs of treatment. If you have purchased a health insurance policy before you (or anyone covered by your policy) were tested positive for the virus, the cost of treatment and medical expenses would be covered under this policy. This is applicable if you were not diagnosed as positive during the initial waiting period.

Regardless of the variant, Delta, Omicron, etc, you can avail of insurance coverage for treatment and hospitalization.

Keep These Points In Mind

If you’re purchasing health insurance specifically for Coronavirus coverage, it’s important to know a few facts:

Get the right coverage: Remember that the virus has a severe impact on the respiratory system and could affect overall functions in several physiological systems. All the effects are still not completely known. These treatments may be very expensive, especially for people with comorbidities. Ensure that you opt for a higher sum insured so that you’re covered adequately.

Read the Policy: Make sure that you carefully go through your insurance policy before choosing your plan. Standard coverage includes hospitalization, consumables, OPD, ICU, and ambulance charges, with more/fewer items offered by different companies. Check the rules about the waiting period so that you’re not caught unawares when you make your claim.

Home Care: may be covered if recommended by a doctor, but most insurers do not usually cover home quarantine-related expenses.

Conclusion

COVID-19 Insurance Coverage, the way we all spend our last 2 years it’s quite hard to believe that it’s been more than 2 years and still we are not far from any kind of disease but the thing is that the more coverage people get with policy the more chance of being protected and being safe.