Since the emergence of the coronavirus illness in 2019 (COVID-19), the world has come to a standstill, forcing governments to impose lockdowns and persons to confine themselves to their residences.
The pandemic-declared COVID-19 has resulted in a wellness crisis, destroying healthcare infrastructure and economies worldwide. It is the third recorded outbreak of a coronavirus, immediately after SARS in 2002 and MERS in 2012 which restricted their havoc to distinct regions. Till now, the virus has infected more than 147 million persons and claimed more than 3 million lives.
Today, India ranks amongst the top rated 3 nations which have been hit worst by Covid-19. This wellness crisis has resulted in higher inflation, particularly health-related inflation, and unemployment in the nation.
One of the greatest challenges of COVID-19 is its substantial therapy expense which can take a toll on the finances and mental well-being of diverse sections of society, particularly the poor and the middle-class. The development reflects that now more and more persons are beginning to take into account a wellness insurance coverage strategy as crucial as other necessities for survival, in a nation exactly where insurance coverage penetration stood beneath 4% in the pre-covid instances.
Over the previous year, we saw a steep upward trend in the sale of extensive wellness insurance coverage plans. During the pre-covid instances, the quantity of persons who bought extensive insurance coverage plans was about 32%, whilst now immediately after getting hit by one of the greatest pandemics, this percentage has shot up to 55%. The information shows that COVID-19 has enhanced consciousness circling the significance of preventive wellness insurance coverage in the nation.
One of the essential factors for the enhance in the sales of wellness insurance coverage plans is the reality that all wellness insurance coverage providers have been mandatorily made to provide coverage for COVID-19 therapy below their standard wellness insurance coverage strategy by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
In July 2020, the IRDAI also made it mandatory for insurance coverage firms to offer you COVID-19 distinct quick-term wellness insurance coverage plans namely Corona Kavach Plan and Corona Rakshak Plan. These two plans have been specially developed to support policyholders meet the healthcare expense incurred due to the coronavirus illness. The regulator had also earlier in the year launched a Standard Health Insurance Product (SHIP) by the name Arogya Sanjeevani Policy to support persons delight in a normal and extensive wellness insurance coverage coverage. All these methods by the IRDAI contributed positively to the wellness insurance coverage well-being of the policyholders by maintaining them insured against health-related contingencies through these hard instances.
In a nutshell, the COVID-19 pandemic has made us all realise the significance of wellness and wellness insurance coverage plans. It has made us come to terms with the reality that how essential it is to stay financially shielded as emergencies, particularly health-related emergencies, come without the need of a warning sign and can outcome in a economic strain along with emotional grief. However, whilst getting a wellness insurance coverage strategy it is also critical to verify the coverage of the strategy.
You will have to verify if your strategy delivers adequate coverage for pre and post hospitalisation, inpatient and outpatient hospitalisation, annual wellness verify-ups, or for any distinct illness against which you want to stay shielded. You can also boost the coverage of the strategy with the support of different rider alternatives like vital illness cover, maternity cover, OPD cover, space rent waiver cover, and so forth., and customise the strategy as per your precise specifications.
by, Ankit Agrawal, Co-Founder and CEO InsuranceDekho