THE RIGHT COVER FOR THE WRONG TIME

The Covid-19 pandemic has made health insurance all the more important to us – for the safety and security of ourselves and our families. It is a challenging task to select the best-fit product for our specific needs

- Manik Kumar Malakar

One of the most succinct proverbs on the significance of time and life has been the myth of Noah from the Bible. “Always plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built Ark.” The adage has its own inherent wit but it became the wisdom in the reign of the pandemic. Health cover could never be so precious unless Covid had uncovered its true value to the world.

As people rush for cover, it becomes crucial for them to find out which insurance product would be the best fit for them, and, more than knowing what it covers, one needs to know what it doesn’t. “Covid has drawn every individual to realize the uncertainty of life in the hardest way,” says Bikash Choudhary, the appointed actuary and Chief Risk Officer at Future Generali India Life Insurance.

The number of health insurance policies bought in the last year has gone up since the outbreak of the disease and consequently increasing the cumulative revenue for the health cover sector, comprising both private and public sector insurers.

“During the pandemic, insurers have been continuously reviewing their existing offerings and have kept updating them as per regulatory guidelines to remain relevant among consumers,” says Parag Raja, MD, and CEO, Bharti AXA Life Insurance. Sector watchdog Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has directed the insurers to provide a standard offering for Covid insurance mandatorily.

After the first outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, the Indian insurance industry came out with two types of policies to secure consumers against the cost of treatment of the viral infection.