New Delhi:

To enhance health insurance coverage in the country, regulator Irdai on Thursday lowered the minimum limit of coverage to Rs 50,000 while raising the maximum limit to Rs 10 lakh under standard health insurance policies.

In July last year, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) had issued guidelines on the standard cover Arogya Sanjeevani Policy, asking the insurers to mandatorily offer sum insured options ranging from minimum of Rs 1 lakh to maximum of Rs 5 lakh.

"In order to enhance the coverage available under Arogya Sanjeevani Policy, in partial modification of the extant guidelines, insurers shall mandatorily offer the sum insured between Rs 50,000 to Rs 10,00,000 under the standard product Arogya Sanjeevani w.e.f 1st May, 2021 or earlier," Irdai said in a circular addressed to the general and standalone health insurers.

Insurers may launch the modified version of the Arogya Sanjeevani Policy after filing the same on certification basis, Irdai said.

The UIN (unique identification number) allotted by the Authority will be retained, it said, adding this has approval of the competent authority.

The popular Arogya Sanjeevani Policy covers hospitalisation, pre- and post-hospitalisation, AYUSH treatment, and cataract treatment

The policy is a standardised insurance product offering to take care of the basic requirements of policyholders