Responding to the Association of Healthcare Providers India’s (AHPI) decision to suspend cashless hospitalisation services for Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Care Health Insurance from September 1, the General Insurance Council (GIC) on Tuesday said that the action is arbitrary, lacks clarity or actionable details.
The August 22 decision of the AHPI followed repeated complaints from its member hospitals that Bajaj Allianz has refused to revise hospital reimbursement rates in line with rising medical costs, and it has pressured hospitals to further reduce tariffs that were agreed upon years ago. In addition, member hospitals complained of unilateral deductions by the Company, delay in payments and unduly high time taken for issuing pre-auth and pre-discharge approvals.
Further, a similar notice has been served to Care Health Insurance on August 22, with a request for their response by 31st August 2025. Failing this, the AHPI’s member hospitals will be constrained to discontinue cashless services to Care Health Insurance beneficiaries as well.
The GIC said: “This sudden unilateral action on part of AHPI has created unnecessary confusion and concerns amongst citizens, impacting the trust in the health insurance ecosystem. Instead of enabling dialogue and resolution, a press statement was abruptly issued, prejudicing the interests of policyholders across the country.”
It said that the council strongly believes that any action which disrupts cashless access ultimately harms the citizens. According to it, disruption in cashless service not just directly impacts families through higher upfront spends on treatments and out-of-pocket expenses, it also threatens survival of patients in critical medical conditions requiring immediate medical attention.
“As an industry, we stand united, when an insurer is unfairly targeted, the issue is very serious as it adversely affects the interests of crores of citizens who depend on health insurance for financial protection and access to healthcare,” it said in the statement.
The GIC also urged the AHPI to immediately withdraw the advice to its members and ask them to engage with insurance companies.