MEDICLAIM RENEWALS: ‘DON’T OVERCHARGE SENIOR CITIZENS’

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has asked the public sector general insurance companies to ensure that the renewal premiums charged to the senior citizens on mediclaim policies should not be “exorbitant’.In a notification hosted on its Web site, IRDA said it had received several complaints from senior citizens that renewal premiums charged to them were exorbitant after the revision of premium rates by public sector general insurance companies in April 2007.The insurers should ensure that premiums for renewals of mediclaim policies issued to senior citizens shall not exceed 50-75 per cent of the premiums charged prior to the revision. They should not be compelled by the insurance companies to migrate to other health insurance products, if it is to the disadvantage of senior citizens, the Authority has said.Separate cell The above instructions are applicable to renewal cases only. The Authority has now created a separate cell to attend to the grievances of senior citizens in respect of non-renewals or exorbitant increases in premium of mediclaim policies of public sector general insurance companies at its office here, it added. – www.hindubusinessline.com