Mumbai:
After 40 days of lockdown,the number of caronavirus cases in the country might have exceeded 42,000 by Monday, but it has not impacted the general insurers much till now.
The general insurance companies have received around 900 claims for over Rs18 crore for Covid-19 treatment till Monday,according the General Insurance Council, the official representative body of the domestic general insurers.
Maharashtra at around 450 claims for about Rs 8 crore have remained at the top of the Covid-19 claim chart. The city of Mumbai itself has generated around 350 Covid-19 claims for around Rs 4 crore.
After Maharashtra, Delhi has seen the maximum number of Covid-19 insurance claims. 150 claims for about Rs 3.5 crore have been filed by the Delhites.
According to the health ministry data updated, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra (14,541), followed by Gujarat (5,804), Delhi (4,898), Tamil Nadu (3,550), Rajasthan (3,061), Madhya Pradesh (2,942) and Uttar Pradesh (2,766)
“Effectively, around 2 per cent of people who are undrergoing treatments at different hospitals of the country have filed for insurance claims. At an average each of the claims is estimated to be around Rs 2 lakh.It is not immediately knows how many Covid-19claims have been settled so far,'' said GI Council sources.
Also,it is not known how many Covid-19 cases have received treatment for free under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PM JAY).
"Testing and treatment of COVID-19 is already available for free in public facilities. Now, more than 50 crore citizens, eligible under the health assurance scheme will be able to avail free testing through private labs and treatment for COVID-19 in empanelled hospitals," the National Health Authority (NHA) had said earlier.
Earlier, insurance regulator IRDAI has directed insurers to take decision on all Covid-19 insurance claims within two hours.
"Decision on authorisation for cashless treatment shall be communicated to the network provider (hospital) within two hours from the time of receipt of authorisation request and last necessary requirement from the hospital either to the insurer or to the TPA whichever is earlier," an IRDA circular had said.
Ddecision on final discharge should be communicated to the network provider within two hours from the time of receipt of final bill and last necessary requirement from the hospital either to the insurer or to the Third Party Administrator (TPA), whichever is earlier, said IRDAI.