Mediclaim premium hike capped at 75%

NEW
DELHI: Rakesh Kumar, 72, had a daze of his life when the coverage company
providing his mediclaim screen asked him to pay a insurance premium of Rs 60,000 for
renewing his policy of Rs 3 lakh. The former year, the insurance premium for the
10-year-old policy was around Rs 8,000 and after the alteration in rates effected
this year, it should have got been Rs
20,000. The ground for this
huge rise in premium: Kumar had claimed Rs 1,50,000 for an angioplasty procedure
after developing a bosom ailment. This is not a rare instance. Policy holders are being asked to pay up to 200% higher insurance premiums after they make
claims for medical treatment. But now there is a good news for
policy holders. India's coverage regulator â€" Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (IRDA) â€" have said that companies cannot loading the
premium beyond 75% of the amount a client paid the former year. This is
stated in an internal missive sent by IRDA to all insurance
companies. The missive also said
that a disease contracted by a client after purchasing a mediclaim policy cannot be
treated as "pre-existing disease" the adjacent year.