NEW DELHI: With an ever-increasing number of Covid-19 cases inundating hospitals across the country, home treatment of ailments including Covid-19 is gaining crucial importance. Some insurers have already begun extending the benefits of existing policies for home treatments, and insurance regulator IRDAI is likely to extend such cover on an industry-wide basis.
ICICI Lombard, for instance, has launched a home-care service under which customers can get themselves treated at home instead of having to avail hospitalisation to claim insurance. Additional benefits and relaxations have been arrived at keeping in view the challenges faced by customers due to the pandemic and the associated restrictions, it added.
“As the pandemic continues to throw new challenges, we thought it is important to ensure that we effectively meet the emerging needs of our customers,” said Sanjeev Mantri, executive director at ICICI Lombard. The insurer has joined hands with private hospitals and home care service providers Portea and Healthcare at Home for this facility.
The service will include remote monitoring by medical professionals, while nurses, doctors and physiotherapists will also come and check patients at their residences if the need arises. Currently, several health insurance products include a lesser known domiciliary hospitalisation cover, which pays for treatment taken at home under specific circumstances. This could turn out to be policyholders’ unlikely saviour during a pandemic.
As per existing norms, domiciliary hospitalisation refers to treatment prescribed by a doctor that requires hospitalisation, but can be provided at home if the patient’s condition does not permit them to be moved to a hospital or if hospital rooms are not available. However, not all products include this clause. This is one reason why insurance regulator IRDAI is actively mulling including home treatment expenses under the permissible category of claims for health insurance. The Health Ministry has recommended home isolation for mild Covid-19 infections without hospitalisation
Revised rules