Covid-19: Insurers are denying policies to disabled despite govt strictures

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed several faultlines in our health systems: Private healthcare is expensive while public healthcare can be inadequate

Abishek Muthian, a startup coach from Coimbatore, runs a blog on which he has uploaded many hours of phone conversations and several emails with call centre and back-office agents of Indian insurance companies. The anxiety over high healthcare costs during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted him to seek out medical insurance. But company after company declined to sell him a policy.

Muthian, 34, lives with dwarfism. Since late March, he tried to buy medical insurance from five leading companies--Royal Sundaram General Insurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, HDFC Ergo, Bajaj Allianz and Max