Govt wants speedy settlement of claims; FM to meet insurers today

FM Sitharaman to meet insurers to discuss easing processes for settling claims

health insurance — The meeting will also focus on simplifying procedures and documentation to settle claims under the government’s flagship insurance schemes in a time-bound manner during the pandemic.

2 min read Last Updated : Jun 05 2021 | 1:15 AM IST

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will meet the heads of public and private insurance companies on Saturday to expedite the sanctioning of claims under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) during the pandemic.

The meeting will also focus on simplifying the procedures and documentations needed to settle claims under the government’s flagship insurance schemes in a time-bound manner.

This comes a month after Sitharaman intervened and asked the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) to resolve the problem of Covid-19 patients being denied cashless health insurance claims by hospitals and insurance companies.

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“The meeting on Saturday is expected to further ease and speed up processes for them,” said the finance ministry.

About 103 million people were enrolled under the PMJJBY, which provides life insurance cover worth Rs 2 lakh at Rs 330 per annum to all account holders aged between 18 and 50 years, as on May 5. The PMSBY, which provides accident cover of Rs 2 lakh at Rs 12 per annum to account holders aged 18 to 70 years, has 234 million subscribers. The schemes cater for the marginalised and the poor who have been brought under the banking network through the PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

The Covid-19 pandemic has compelled the poor to avail of insurance cover offered by the government as enrolments under both the schemes have seen a jump. In the pandemic-struck FY21, enrolments under the PMJJBY shot up 47.5 per cent year-on-year to about 103 million. The claims, too, increased 32 per cent year-on-year to 250,351, of which 234,905 had been disbursed as of March 31, 2021.

Under the PMSBY, the number of subscribers increased over 25 per cent year-on-year to 233 million in FY21. Claims received under the scheme increased 16 per cent to 58,540, of which 45,472 were disbursed as of March 31.