Is your health policy Covid-ready? Key features you must look for

Check if your health insurance covers home care, tele-consultations, PPE kits, room rent waiver and has sufficient sum insured to deal with Covid-related hospitalisation costs

With Covid-19 cases in India crossing the 1,000-mark, policyholders must assess whether their health insurance policies offer adequate coverage and possess the features required to deal with this threat. 

 

Gaps uncovered 

The limitations of many retail health policies were exposed during the first and second waves. “These included sub-limits on room rent, and exclusion of non-payable items like PPE (personal protective equipment) kits,” says Bhaskar Nerurkar, head – health administration team, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.

 

The rigid definition of hospitalisation was another impediment. “Domiciliary treatment was not commonly covered across plans at the time,” says Siddharth Singhal, head of