ICICI LOMBARD to ally with dairies in TN

CHENNAI: A husbandman from coastal Mysore was saving for his daughter's education. He took a wellness coverage screen for the full household for Rs 15,000. But drop ill. Desperate, he turned to the small town leader and asked him to follow his girl as he could not bear her expenses.The leader told him, "You don't have got to pay a penny. You are insured." The husbandman spent Rs 13,000 from his coverage screen on his operation and continued dreaming about his daughter's future.This is just one of the narratives of how consciousness of coverage is slowly seeping into the mind of the rural community. Still a long manner to go, the aspirational degrees of villagers are also rising.Tapping this attitudinal alteration is ICICI Lombard. The company started tapping the rural transmission transmission channel commercially through micro-finance establishments and rural collectors like cooperatives, cement and fertilizer distributers and rural mercantile establishments in South Republic Of India from 2003.Now it bes after to bind up with dairy farms -Hatsun and Aavin in Tamil Nadu to circulate cognition about its coverage policies on cows insurance, personal accident and wellness covers for age groupings between 5 and 65 years.Head of Agribusiness and Rural Insurance Pranav Prashad told Express that an investing of Rs 12 crore was envisaged in preparation of statistical distribution channels and ensuring speedy turnaround time of the claims service network."As many as 4,500 channel agents are targeted of which 30 per cent will be in Tamil Nadu, 50 per cent in Mysore and the balance in Andhra Pradesh," Prashad said. Kerala business relationships for a negligible number.The merchandise scope available with MFIs would also be expanded. Recently, ICICI Langobard partnered with the Micro Recognition Foundation of Republic Of India for sale of cows and accident coverage in rural Tamil Nadu. In lawsuit of loan defaults to the MFIs, ICICI counterbalances the risk.Currently, the company have insured 2.5 million lives in South of which 8 hundred thousand are in Tamil Nadu. The figure is expected to be up to 10 million by 2010.

Fifty? Old but not that bad

ANIRUDH LASKAR

Mumbai, Dec. 10: If you are over 50, acquire ready to be labelled a senior citizen — but lone for a medical coverage policy.

A commission set up by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) have come up up with a sackful of suggestions to pass the range of wellness coverage for the elderly.

Many mightiness quail at the prospect of being called a senior citizen when they turn 50, but there are some great benefits in shop if the coverage regulator accepts the recommendations.

For a start, the wellness screen will be moderately priced: the commission headed by K.S. Sastry have suggested an yearly alkali insurance premium of Rs 3,000 for an assured sum of money of Rs 1 hundred thousand at age 50.

Pre-existing diseases detected 48 calendar months before the policy will be covered — but there’s A rider. The screen will be granted only four old age after the start of the policy.

For the first time, the commission have also narrowly defined the term which is “any condition, complaint or hurt or related to condition(s) for which the individual had marks or symptoms, or were diagnosed or received medical advice or treatment within 48 calendar months prior to origin of the first policy”.

The commission suggested that the aged should use for wellness coverage from as early an age as possible to do the coverage system financially viable.

However, since some of them might be tapping option beginnings of healthcare funding while in active service, it said senior citizens could be allowed to come in the wellness coverage system up to the age of 65 old age or higher at the discretion of the insurer.

If they make so, they should be given guaranteed renewal of coverage without any upper age limit.

The commission said a progressive annualised insurance premium of Rs 3,000 was sensible for a healthy senior citizen at 50, especially at a clip when most wellness merchandises in the state cost Rs 5,000 or more.

The commission said the insurance premium could be adjusted with a burden every year. However, the insured would also be entitled to a loyalty price reduction for every twelvemonth the insured was with the wellness coverage system, and not necessarily the peculiar product.

‘Scrap age brackets’

The present pattern of specifying insurance premium based on age brackets should be scrapped, the commission said.

A progressive addition from twelvemonth to twelvemonth — so long as it is a little per centum a twelvemonth and without combination — was likely to be more than acceptable.

Since the coverage company would not have got the option of refusing wellness insurance to any senior citizen, it was thought just to let the company to set the alkali insurance premium on the footing of a medical scrutiny at the clip of first entry.

The commission suggested a move away from the traditional reimbursement attack in order to convey down the insurance premium further.

As soon as a specified unwellness is diagnosed, the insured volition be paid a specified hunk sum of money amount. The commission said such as policies could convey down the insurance premium to Rs 1,500 or even lower.

Tax breaks

The Sastry commission recommended that income-tax grants be granted to people under wellness insurance.

The present taxation discount under Section 80 Vitamin D for wellness coverage insurance premiums is regressive — a taxpayer in the peak bracket acquires a taxation discount of about Rs 6,000 whereas a senior citizen in a less class acquires much less.

The commission suggested the taxation grant for wellness coverage at a uniform charge per unit of Rs 6,000, or if possible, at a higher degree for every taxpayer.

The taxation change was logical as the insured senior citizen would be paying higher and higher insurance premiums as he or she turns older.

At present, coverage insurance premiums pull service taxation of 12.36 per cent, including cess. It was recommended that if wellness coverage coverage insurance premiums could not be exempted from service taxation altogether, at least 50 per cent of the service taxation on all wellness premiums should be credited to an insurance pool that the IRDA could create.

The return would then be used to cover with high-risk health coverage cases.

One agent, all companies, all covers: Insurance agents get a makeover

KOLKATA:
Your vicinity LIC agent (or any other coverage agent for that matter) may
soon be able to sell an array of wellness coverage programs and mediclaim policies,
giving you the freedom to take from a host of products. Currently, a health
cover agent is difficult to come up by, and the options available with him are limited
â€" they being that of a peculiar company. Things are in for a change. The panel set up to look into
senior citizens’ wellness coverage facets have suggested convergence of
agents for wellness coverage plans. This agency that agents of any insurance
company â€" private or public, or life or general â€" tin sell health
cover programs of any other company. In effect, the agent will be a agent of all
health coverage programs available in
India. Currently, an agent can
sell policies of lone that peculiar company with which he is attached. The
move to let an agent to sell policies of all companies “will convey in
more competition and terms are expected to come up down,” said an official. “It is also expected to increase incursion of wellness screen in India,
which is now abysmally low,” he
added. At present, the
insurance industry (comprising both life and non-life), have about 30 lakh
agents, all tied up with a peculiar company or the other. Hence, the options
these agents offering are limited. If the recommendation goes a law, each of the
20 hundred thousand life coverage agents and 10 hundred thousand full full general coverage advisers will be
able to sell wellness programs from 17 general coverage companies and 16 life
insurance companies. However,
not all life coverage companies have got started merchandising wellness insurance policies. The
largest life insurer, Life Insurance Corporation of India, which have about 13
lakh agents, have just announced programs to offer wellness coverage plans. It is
working on merchandises which are expected to hit the marketplace in the adjacent couple of
months. Many private life
insurers have got already started launching wellness plans. Bajaj Allianz Life
Insurance is looking at a Rs 500-crore turnover rate from its wellness insurance
business in 2007-08. Officials experience that the inquiry of an agent pushing a
particular policy, which gives him the peak commission, makes not originate as
most insurance companies are already paying a committee of 15%, the highest
allowed. However, some
companies have got reduced the committee for policies sold to senior citizens. “With A wellness coverage pool for senior citizens being proposed, losses
from this section are likely to worsen drastically,” said an industry
analyst. Every insurance company will lend an amount to this pool and will be
eligible to retreat from it in lawsuit they incur losses.

LIC bets big with new health insurance plan

MUMBAI/HYDERABAD:
Life Insurance Corporation of Republic Of India anticipates to supply screen to at least one
crore households within a twelvemonth of the launch of its new wellness coverage product. It is also planning to establish a particular senior citizen’s wellness insurance
policy in owed course, said LIC executive manager director and head, wellness coverage DD
Singh. The product, likely to
be called LIC Health Plus, will give the policyholder the option to take health
insurance screen for his contiguous household â€" partner and children. The
corporation is put to register the merchandise next hebdomad with the coverage regulator. Although the first twelvemonth mark is very ambitious, LIC have the advantage of a
million-plus agents. LIC have roped in reinsurer Muenchen Rhenium to construction the new
product. It is, however, yet
to cement programs to put up a standalone wellness coverage company, said officials. Although inside information of wellness merchandises are yet to be disclosed, LIC had indicated
it was looking at a ‘floater’ program where a sum of money insured could be
shared by the family. LIC had also said it was looking at a wellness policy on the
unit linked platform with a savings
element. LIC have tied up with
eight third-party administrators to pull off claims under the policy. LIC would
not utilize TPAs to settle down claims. For claims settlement, it have tied up with
Syndicate Bank, Axis Depository Financial Institution and Depository Financial Institution of
America. Both non-life and life
companies are acute on cashing in on the growth chances in the health
insurance segment. They are on course of study to offer a batch of products, other than
Mediclaim, to give more than pick to
consumers. Featuring in this
list are new entrants such as as Phoebus DKV, the 2nd base alone health
insurance in the country. Right now less than 3% of the population have a health
insurance cover. With wellness costs on the rise, the regulator also thinks there
is range for coverage companies to widen their range and supply wellness attention at
affordable prices. Last year, public sector insurance companies had told agents that they
will gain no committee on renewals or sale of fresh Mediclaim to people in the
older age group. The principle was these companies were making heavy losings due
to the high claims ratio â€" between 120% to 170%. The companies had also
put an other loading on policies sold to senior
citizens. The Insurance
Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) have now directed all wellness insurance companies to
cap the insurance premium charged on the renewals of existing Mediclaim policies to soften
the blow on senior citizens, said IRDA chiarman cesium Rao. Insurance companies have
been debarred from hiking the insurance premium by 50% compared to the former year. Simply put, if the company had charged a insurance insurance premium of Rs 100, the premium cannot
exceed Rs 150 at the clip of renewals. The regulator programs to originate action
against insurance companies who make not accede to this norm.