BENGALURU: THIRTY-year-old Lakshmi V was operated upon for Osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone on Friday at Columbia Asia Hospital, Yeshwantpur.
On Monday, she received a letter from her insurer Raksha Health Insurance TPA Pvt Ltd that her insurance had been denied. Lakshmi is also a Thalassemia patient. This is in violation of the Delhi HC judgement that asks insurers to cover genetic disorders.
After the judgment, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had sent a letter to all insurance companies in the country barring them from rejecting claims on the basis of genetic disorders.
While she recuperated at the hospital, Lakshmi’s husband Bitu Kotai told The New Indian Express, “We had taken a family floater policy for `4 lakh which is valid till December this year. Now the five-day stay at the hospital has run up a bill of `1.5 lakh and they are refusing to insure. At the time of taking the policy she did not have Osteomyelitis and it is not related to Thalassemia, so how can they refuse insurance?”
Gagandeep Chandok, a member of Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Society of Bangalore said, “This is in clear violation of the Delhi High Court judgment and also the IRDAI letter that barred insurers from rejecting claims. The court held that rejecting claims on the basis of genetic disorders is violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.”Raksha TPA was unavailable for comment.