'Arogya Sanjeevani' insurance policy to cover Covid-19

The standard health insurance policy “Arogya Sanjeevani” for all 29 general/health insurance companies will now cover hospitalisation under Covid-19, said Irdai.

In a press release on Wednesday, Irdai said it has approved the Sanjeevani product for all 29 general/ health insurance companies. Each insurance company has been given its own discretion on how to price the product. And now the cost of premium is roughly about Rs 1,000 for every Rs 1 lakh of coverage.

Customers have the option of taking coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh — in which case the rough cost is about Rs 5,000 (there are a few insurance companies pricing it a few hundred rupees above this).


But Arogya Sanjeevani gives insurance coverage for up to Rs 5 lakh. There have been media reports that some patients in private hospitals have incurred a bill as high as Rs 15 lakh for covid-19 treatment. Irdai also added all current mediclaim policies in India will cover Covid-19 hospitalisation.

As to old policies of general insurance companies, which in their policy documents exclude coverage of an epidemic — an Irdai official said these policies too will cover Covid-19 as instructed by the regulator.