Will your Health Insurance cover for Coronavirus?

It is a tough question to answer and the answer will depend on a number of factors.

PANDEMIC TAG- Generally insurance providers don’t cover for an epidemic or a pandemic because of the huge number of claims.

With respect to India, if news sources are to be believed, SBI, Bajaj Allianz General and Edelweiss General Insurance have confirmed to cover expenses against the treatment (depending on specific policy conditions) even though it has been declared pandemic. However it would be recommended to check the specifics of your policy and see if they cover for pandemic/epidemic.

There are other factors also which are generally taken into account before deciding against health policy claims and include factors such as:

• Hospitalization period must be over 24 hours –Most of the indemnity type health insurance policies do not cover outpatient treatment in India. So even if you get coronavirus, you might be able to file for a claim only if you are hospitalized for at least 24 hours.
• If you contract the disease within the policy waiting period, it will not be possible to file for a mediclaim.
• Deaths occurring because of coronavirus would generally be covered by life insurance policies if the deceased already had a existing life insurance plan.

Keywords: