Old maladies, New solutions
In an extremely ‘welcome’ development, insurance policy holders will be relieved to know that from now on their pre-existing diseases will be covered under the policy after a time period of four years.
This much needed regulation comes after a long history of disputes between the insurance agencies and policy holders as regards what actually qualifies as a ‘pre-existing’ disease. The General Insurance Council has now come up with a standard definition of a pre-existing disease that will be put into effect starting this month.
The legally certified new definition of pre-existing diseases is as under:
“Any condition, ailment or injury or related condition(s), for which you had signs or symptoms and/or were diagnosed, and/or received medical advice/treatment within 48 months prior to your first policy with us”.
The exclusion clause says, “Benefits will not be available for any condition(s) as defined in the policy, until 48 months of continuous coverage has elapsed, since inception of the first policy with us.”
Starting with June 1, all health insurance policies (barring the renewal ones) will use this definition as benchmark, and provide services accordingly. Before the conception of this definition, every insurance company followed its own definition and even the exclusion period varied leading to much discord amongst the policy holders and policy providers. With this regulation coming into effect, now all your pre-existing diseases will be covered in your health insurance plan, as soon as the four year time limit is completed.
