MADURAI: Observing that it will be discriminatory to give preference to allopathy over AYUSH treatment, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently suggested the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to place AYUSH treatment on par with allopathic treatment, and directed insurance companies to reimburse the insurance amount on equal scales.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh remarked while hearing petitions filed by K Krishna, an advocate, and MC Uma Maheswari, an advocate clerk, requesting the court to direct Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Limited to completely reimburse the medical expenses they had incurred while undergoing Covid-19 treatment at a Siddha Hospital.
The petitioners had taken a policy for Rs 5 lakh and Rs 4 lakh from the aforesaid insurance company, and had applied for a reimbursement of Rs 52,250 each. However, Krishna and Maheswari were paid only Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively. The counsel appearing for the company said the amount was paid based on the maximum cap fixed for AYUSH treatment under their respective policies. That is, for an insurance policy of Rs 5 lakh, the maximum cap is Rs 15,500 and for Rs 4 lakh, it is Rs 10,000, he added.
Admitting that no further direction could be issued to the company considering that they have paid money as per the policy norms, Justice Venkatesh said, “During the pandemic, traditional medicines were recommended for the infected people as the hospitals were attending to emergency cases only. In such circumstances, it is not reasonable to restrict the cap and deprive the policy holders from getting reimbursement of the amount they spent in AYUSH hospitals,” he observed.
He further added that patients can either choose allopathy or opt for traditional medicines provided by AYUSH and the expenses incurred for either of the treatments must be placed on equal scales. He also instructed the IRDAI director to ensure equal weightage is given to AYUSH and allopathic treatment in all future policies.