Health insurance master circular: General insurers seek 2-month extension

Irdai issued a circular on health insurance products in June and asked general/health insurers to offer a wider range of products to customers

General insurers seek an extension in deadline until December 2024 from the regulator to comply with the revised master circular guidelines on health insurance products, people aware of the development told Business Standard.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) issued the ‘Master Circular on Health Insurance Products’ in June and asked general/health insurers to offer a wider range of products to customers, including those with all types of existing medical conditions and pre-existing diseases and chronic conditions.

The regulator had also asked insurance companies to provide customers with a Customer Information Sheet (CIS) – a document that will explain and simplify the policy details for the policyholder. These norms were proposed to be effective from October 1, 2024.

However, the industry has sought an extension till December 2024 to comply with these norms relating to CIS.

Insurance companies have also sought help in issuing letters to the relevant authorities to strengthen business in rural areas and to meet their mandatory business in these areas.

“The industry has requested time to revise the products as per the new circular as it requires necessary changes to be made in the IT systems,” said an industry source.

Aiming to reach the goal of ‘Insurance for All by 2047’, Irdai, through its June master circular, had asked the companies to undertake a certain percentage of business in a selected gram panchayat to meet their rural, social sector, and motor third party obligations.

The general and health insurance companies have requested help from Irdai in issuing these letters to the local authorities and state governments to get the relevant data from these gram panchayats.