Govt push to make insurance coverage of AYUSH treatments on a par with allopathy
As more people opt for alternative treatment and cure, health insurance companies too have started including AYUSH treatment as a part of their conventional health insurance policies. Now, the Ministry of Ayush is reportedly in talks with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), to ensure that insurance coverage of Ayush treatments gets “on a par” with the insurance coverage for allopathy.
And, further, the ministry is trying to push “to broaden the scope of insurance coverage and empanelment criteria of AYUSH hospitals and day care centres”.
According to a News18 report, Rajesh Kotecha, secretary, ministry of Ayush, said that they were in talks with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) on this matter.
In 2013, the IRDAI had included AYUSH treatment, which involves ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha and homeopathy, with specific provisions in the health insurance regulations. Three years later, in September 2016, the ministry issued guidelines to facilitate insurance coverage for AYUSH treatment and settlement of claims on the basis of benchmark rates of various therapies, interventions and treatment packages.
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Therefore, 140 policy products covering one or more systems of Ayush treatments are being offered by 27 general insurance companies and standalone health insurance companies.
The IRDAI allows insurance companies to provide coverage to non-allopathic treatments if the treatment if it has been done in a government hospital or in any institute recognised by government or accredited by Quality Council of India or other listed institutes.
The government is now urging companies to provide more benefits as many policies fail to cover day care treatment expenses, post and pre-hospitalisation charges, or outpatient expenses. The companies sell these policies by marketing Ayush as a treatment that produces results without surgery or invasive treatments.
