Is there an insurance policy to cover the risk of Coronavirus?

Situation-1

If your insurance policy provides for a cover against this virus infected disease, then you must remember that claim would be entertained only if you are hospitalized (admitted as an inpatient) for a minimum of 24 hours before discharge from the hospital. If no hospitalization takes place, then your claim on the policy may not come to fruition, unless your insurance policy provides for outpatient cover.

Situation-2

In this critical situation, one should keep calm and stop panicking. Rather, think prudently and act. If you contract this Coronavirus during the waiting period of the policy, then you may not get any relief from the policy. Normally, health insurance policies provide for a 30-day window for covering respiratory diseases such as Coronavirus.

Situation-3

If you have traveled from a Coronavirus-affected country and diagnosed ‘positive’, chances are that you will be covered under the regular indemnity health policy as long as you are quarantined in India. But you should not be traveling from Coronavirus-afflicted countries such as China, Hongkong, Taiwan, Italy, Iran, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, etc. Your claim may also be rejected if you contract this virus from a family member who has traveled to these afflicted countries.

What does the IRDAI say?

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has recently asked the insurance companies to come out with policies to cover treatment costs for Coronavirus infection.

The IRDAI Circular (IRDAI/HLT/REG/CIR/054/03/2020 dated 04^th March 2020) says that insurers should expeditiously attend to claims for Coronavirus treatment. Wherever hospitalization is covered in an insurance product, insurers should ensure that the cases related to this disease should be expeditiously handled.

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