In India, only a few insurance companies had implemented the rules even after a five-year-old policy requiring the involvement of mental health-related conditions in insurance coverage. However, a recent notice from IRDAI, India's insurance regulator, has pushed insurers to guarantee compliance starting this month.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has ordered insurers to cover psychological disorders and follow the regulations of the MHC Act, 2017, without any alteration, on or before October 31, 2022, stating that starting in November 2022, all healthcare plans must cover mental illness. This is a critical move to promote mental health, notably after its significance emerged amid the Covid pandemic.
For the uninitiated, every insurance provider is required to include coverage for medical insurance for the treatment of mental disorders under the Mental Healthcare Act (MHC Act) of 2017. Considering this, the IRDAI already ordered all insurance companies to adhere to the Act's terms and prohibited insurers from making a distinction between physical and mental illnesses in August 2018.
But according to industry insiders, many private health insurance plans do not offer cashless hospitalization for psychological problems, even though in some circumstances the provisions can be added upon demand. This is even though public sector undertaking (PSU) health insurance providers have created arrangements for doing so.
It is now predicted that this major effort from IRDAI would narrow the gap and force all health insurers to involve mental illness in all of their policies.
The new regulations would mandate full insurance protection of a patient's well-being, whether it be physical or mental, regardless of the types of ailments that must be treated. If no particular exceptions are noted in the policy, illnesses including bipolar disorder, Alzheimer's, dementia, or depression will be insured.
Also, this benefit will be included in your current health insurance plans. According to ET, insurance companies can no longer simply deny new policy applications from those with mental illness. People who already have these conditions can now purchase a health insurance plan that includes this provision. And if someone discovers one of these diseases after purchasing coverage, a claim will still be accepted under certain circumstances.
One in eight people globally, according to research issued by WHO in June 2022, is predicted to have a mental disorder, highlighting the urgent need to transform the way that mental healthcare is provided. One of the greatest populations of persons with mental health concerns around the world is found in India, where mental health disorders account for 15% of all diseases.
© Vygr Media Private Limited 2022. All Rights Reserved.
