Health Insurance Company Expands Product Range

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, India’s No. 1 private life insurer, has further expanded its health insurance portfolio, this time to cover over 1,000 surgical procedures and hospitalization. With the launch of the new product, Hospital Care, the company moves into the realm of offering products that go beyond covering critical illnesses, and further strengthens its position as a significant player in the health insurance space.

Hospital Care is structured to ensure customers receive a pre-determined insurance amount for each procedure or hospitalization, even if they spend less. Further, its long-term design of a term between 10-20 years, assures policyholders the guaranteed cushion of insurance cover even if they make a claim during the term. Available for individuals between the ages of 1-60 years, this is one of the first products that will cover people up to the age of 80 years.

“Our research revealed that many customers believe that existing health insurance policies would not cover all the expenses related to hospitalization or surgical procedure, leaving them with a considerable financial burden. This is compounded by the concern that these policies are not long-term and that once a claim is made, it might not be renewed or will attract a higher premium”, said Mr. Bhargav Dasgupta, Executive Director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. “We launched Hospital Care to fill this gap in health insurance and also offer customers control over their health spends,” he added.

Hospital Care is structured to enable customers to provide for all expenses associated with hospitalization, ranging from room charges, doctor and surgery fees, to other incidental expenses. The insurance benefit includes:

» Daily hospitalization cash benefit: customer is paid a daily fixed benefit amount for every day he/she is in hospital

» Daily ICU cash benefit: additional 50% of the daily hospitalization benefit is paid in case the policyholder is in the intensive care unit

» Surgery benefit: Lump sum payment for a surgery, with more than 1,000 procedures covered graded as per type and severity

» Recuperating benefit: to take care of post-hospitalization expenses

Policyholders also enjoy a double claim benefit that will enable them to get the benefit amount under Hospital Care in addition to that claimed under any other health insurance plan. The policy offers a cashless claim benefit at 3,000 network hospitals across the country. Any insurance amounts over and above those incurred towards hospitalization are paid directly to the policyholder.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank and Prudential plc. It was one of the first players to commence operations when the insurance industry was opened to the private sector in 2000. For the 11 months ended February 28, 2007, the company garnered Rs 3,744 crore of weighted retail + group new business premiums and wrote over 1.5 million policies. The company has a network of over 540 offices, over 200,000 advisors; as well as 22 bank partners. It is also the only life insurer in India to be assigned AAA (Ind) credit rating from Fitch Ratings. For the past six years, ICICI Prudential has retained its position as the No. 1 private life insurer in the country, with a wide range of flexible products that meet the needs of the Indian customer at every step in life.

ICICI Prudential’s other health insurance products include Health Assure, Health Assure Plus, Cancer Care, Cancer Care Plus, Diabetes Care and Diabetes Care Plus.

Contact information:

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company,
Mumbai
Tel: (022) 40395719

Source-Medindia
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