No instant health cover for Covid survivors

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 25

For Covid survivors or those who have been vaccinated will have to wait a little longer to buy a health insurance policy. The period ranges from 15 to 90 days. Insurance companies have introduced ‘cooling-off’ period to buy a health insurance policy for people who contracted the Covid infection.

The cooling-off period is a duration during which a person affected with a certain disease may not be able to buy the health cover. Before the Covid, insurance products were designed with 30 days’ cooling-off period. During this period, no claims are permissible except for accidental claims.

According to RenewBuy, companies like Max Bupa, Manipal Cigna, HDFC ERGO and ICICI Lombard have introduced the ‘cooling-off’ period for Covid survivors.

“Insurers have specific underwriting guidelines for covering infections which help them in evaluating the acceptance of application. The reason behind introducing the ‘cooling-off’ period is lack of clarity on the long-term impact of Covid on health. In many cases, the infection has led to pulmonary and cardio vascular-related complications. The cooling-off period gives reasonable time to insurers to understand the additional complications that may arise,” said Indraneel Chatterjee, co-founder and principal officer, RenewBuy.

“In our policy, the cooling-off period for a person who has contracted the Covid is three months, post testing negative, as it allows sufficient time for emergence of complications,” said Ankur Kharbanda, director-retail sales, Max Bupa Health Insurance.