Corona Insurance Policy (2023) – Types, Cover and How To Claim
Corona Insurance policy provides coverage for all medical and hospitalisation expenses incurred due to COVID-19. This health insurance policy helps get the best treatment without having to think of the financial burden it could have caused.
Here’s what Corona insurance policy includes, excludes, the premium amount, benefits and how to claim it. Read on!
Why Do you Need Corona Insurance Policy?
Only using a mask or getting double vaccinated may not provide full protection against coronavirus. There are still over 1 lakh active Covid-19 cases around the world, and deaths are still on the rise. In such a scenario, it is absolutely necessary to get a Corona Insurance Policy for yourself and your loved ones.
Having a Corona Insurance Policy will cover the pre and post-hospitalisation expenses, cost of the particulars such as PPE kit, oxygen cylinder, masks and gloves, and cashless treatment facility in the network hospitals.
Details of Covid-19 Insurance Premiums
To avail of the benefits under this insurance policy, a member must pay premium amounts online. Some insurers allow monthly payment of premiums making the entire process affordable and accessible.
Moreover, the coverage will be applicable once a member is diagnosed with this disease. This happens because coronavirus is a new disease and is not under the pre-existing illness category.
Features of Covid Standard Health Insurance Policy
Individuals should be aware of the Covid-19 insurance features before proceeding with its application. The features are as follows:
- Selecting a policy from two options is comparatively easier than other health insurance policies with several variants.
- A standard health plan for Covid-19 may be availed on a family floater basis.
- To streamline the entire health plan, there are no deductibles in this policy. This means that insurers will settle claims without charging anything from an insured.
In addition, there are several benefits of a corona insurance policy that makes it an ideal option for members planning to secure their finances in the long run.
Every individual has a different reason for purchasing a health insurance policy. Complying to that, there is more than one type of Coronavirus Insurance in India. Following are the different types of Coronavirus Insurance available in India:
1. Health Insurances Covering Covid-19
After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, most health insurances provide an additional coverage option for Covid-19. If you have an existing health insurance policy, check with your insurance provider whether they cover costs incurred for COVID-19 treatment. If you do not have one yet, it is recommended that you get one inclusive of Covid-19 coverage.
2. Group Health Insurance
Group health insurance policies are for workplace professionals. These are mostly opted by employers for their employees considering the current scenario. However, it is understandable that not every organisation will be able to get one comprehensive cover for their employees; hence, they can opt for illness-specific insurances such as Coronavirus Health insurance.
3. Corona Kavach Health Insurance
This is another pocket-sized health insurance policy which is exclusive to covid treatments. It also has the option of a one-time premium payment option at the time of purchase. The policy covers hospitalisation expenses, AYUSH treatments and homecare, as recommended by the doctor. The sum insured under Corona Kavach Health Insurance Policy ranges between Rs.50,000 lakh to Rs.5 lakh
4. Covid Rakshak Health Insurance
Corona Rakshak Insurance is pocket-sized health insurance exclusively for COVID-19. This plan requires you to pay a one-time premium at the time of purchase. If you get infected with the virus, you will get a lump sum amount as the sum insured ranging between Rs.2.5 lakh to Rs.5 lakh rather than the facility of cashless treatment and reimbursement for the expenses.
In the following table you will find the premiums, coverage amount and tenures of Corona Rakshak Policy offered by NAVI:
| Sum insured | Rs.50,000 | Rs.1 lakh | Rs.1.5 lakh | Rs.2 lakh | Rs.2.5 lakh |
| Tenure- 3.5 months | Rs. 627 – Rs. 1627 | Rs. 1340- Rs. 3254 | Rs. 2011- Rs. 4882 | Rs. 2680- Rs. 6509 | Rs. 3350-Rs. 8136 |
| Tenure- 6.5 months | Rs. 1005-Rs. 2441 | Rs. 2010-Rs. 4882 | Rs. 3015-Rs. 7322 | Rs. 4020-Rs. 9762 | Rs. 5026- Rs. 12,204 |
| Tenure – 9.5 months | Rs. 1206- Rs. 2929 | Rs. 2412-Rs. 5858 | Rs. 3618- Rs. 8786 | Rs. 4824-Rs. 11,715 | Rs. 6030-Rs. 14,644 |
Apart from these, policyholders under a group health insurance policy must check with their insurers if their plan covers Covid treatment expenses.
Covid Insurance Benefits
Take a look at the benefits of this insurance policy before opting for it.
- Provides Financial Security: Considering the mortality rate of this disease, it is necessary to get hold of a plan that offers sufficient financial stability during unforeseen circumstances. Even if the member passes away due to this disease, his or her family members will receive the sum insured.
- Affordable Premiums: This plan offers coverage to both members and their families at nominal premium rates.
- Easy Claim Settlement Procedure: After considering the social distancing norms, insurers offer cashless claim settlement options on Covid insurance.
- Fund Availability for Other Expenses: As the Covid-19 treatment expenses require a lot of money, it can jeopardise future plans and goals. However, an insurance policy can cover such expenses and make funds available for other emergencies.
Applicants can get comprehensive health benefits coverage with a paperless process on choosing Navi Health Insurance. Download the Navi App and avail cashless claims in under 20 minutes from over 10,000 network hospitals and premiums as low as Rs. 235/- per month.
Inclusions under Covid-19 Insurance Policy
Refer to the following table to know about the corona insurance inclusions.
| Essential Covers | Standard Covers | Add-on Covers |
| Pré-hospitalisation expenses | ICU room rent | Maternity benefits with a newborn baby |
| Accidental hospitalisation | Daily hospital cash | |
| In-patient hospitalisation expenses | Post-hospitalisation expenses | |
| Day-care procedures | Road ambulance expenses | |
| Critical illness hospitalisation | Home hospitalisation | |
| Organ donor expenses | ||
| Recovery benefit | ||
| Alternate treatment |
Exclusions under Corona Insurance Policy
Although the Covid insurance policy covers the maximum expense, here are some exceptions to it:
- Home Quarantine: The insurance policy does not cover the expenses you incur during the quarantine period.
- Pre-Existing Diseases: Any medical expenses incurred during pre-existing illness treatment will not be covered under this plan until the end of a waiting period.
- Non-Recognised Quarantine Centre: For coronavirus treatment, it is advisable to get treatment from recognised centres. Treatment from non-recognised quarantine centres does not fall under the coverage of an insurance policy.
- Prenatal and Postnatal Expenses: An insurance policy for Covid-19 treatment expenses does not include prenatal and postnatal expenses unless it results in hospitalisation.
- Hospitalisation without Doctor’s Recommendation: It is vital to carry a written prescription from a doctor regarding a patient’s hospitalisation to raise a claim for hospitalisation expenses under this policy.
During the outbreak of Coronavirus in 2020, medical insurance providers were providing for the expenses only if you were hospitalised for a period minimum of 24 hours. Most of the health insurance providers were hesitant to provide treatment expenses for Covid as they claimed that pandemics and epidemics were excluded from the government norms for insurance policies in India. But, the government took a stand for the people and made sure that Covid-19 insurance claims were not rejected.
So, make sure to check with your provider about Coronavirus coverage if you have an existing health insurance policy. Most of the policies have now been directed to provide coverage for the same.
How to Claim Corona Health Insurance
There are two ways to claim Corona Health Insurance – cashless treatment and reimbursement. The process for both of them has been discussed below.
1. Cashless Treatment Claim Settlement
Cashless treatment claims are only available across the network hospitals of the insurance provider. If it is a planned hospitalisation, you need to inform the insurance provider beforehand. If it was unplanned, you need to inform them within 24 hours of hospitalisation. Following is the process which is followed by most providers; however, it may vary slightly from one provider to another.
- Step 1: Provide your health card at the help desk of the network hospital for verification of identity.
- Step 2: Fill up and submit your pre-authorisation form, duly signed by the third-party administrator of the insurance provider.
- Step 3: Upon verification of authorisation, an approval mail will be sent to the network hospital.
- Step 4: The hospital will then initiate and settle the cashless treatment bill with the insurance provider.
In case your cashless request is rejected, you will get reimbursement for the expenses after discharge.
2. Reimbursement Claim Settlement
Reimbursement claim settlement is available for the hospitals not included in the insurer’s network. You should inform your insurer within 48 hours of hospitalisation. The claim settlement process is as follows:
- Step 1: Upon discharge, collect all your bills such as hospital expenses, discharge summary, doctor’s prescription and pharmacy bills.
- Step 2: Fill in and submit the reimbursement form along with the original medical documents to your insurance provider.
- Step 3: After successful verification, your request will be approved and you will receive the reimbursement.
If your claim is not approved, you will receive a mail or letter stating why your claim was not approved.
How to Cancel Covid Insurance Policy?
To cancel corona insurance policies, check out the following steps:
- Contact the support team of the insurance company to submit the cancellation request.
- Members must write a cancellation letter online or offline and state the policy details and reason for cancelling the policy before sending it.
- On receiving the cancellation request, the respective insurer will try to provide a solution.
- In case a member still wants to cancel the policy, the cancellation process will be initiated.
- Depending on the insurance tenor, the insurer will deduct the premium amount and refund the rest of the amount.
- On successful cancellation, members will receive a letter or e-mail regarding their policy cancellation.
Things to Consider Before buying Corona Insurance
The Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet. Hence, the more we stay prepared, the better we will be able to fight the pandemic. Here are a few things you should consider checking prior to purchasing a Corona Insurance policy:
- Claim Settlement Process: Go through the terms and conditions provided by the insurer and make sure that the claim settlement process is simple and quick.
- Co-Payment Terms: A co-payment option is where the insurer and the insured share the expenses at a ratio settled at the time of agreement. Be sure that your insurance provider has this option. Otherwise, you might have to bear the whole expense for some treatments.
- Cashless Claim Settlement: Check with your insurance provider if they provide a cashless claim settlement facility. If they do, check their network hospitals and check if they are within your close vicinity.
- Add-On Services: Apart from the services included in your insurance policy, there are some add-on services you can choose to add to your policy. This might increase your sum insured and the premiums because those services might cost extra if availed separately.
- Waiting Period: Check the waiting period with your insurance company and see if it is suitable for you. The waiting period is the time from the date of issue of the policy after which the treatment costs are covered.
Final Word
From the aforementioned sections, it is evident that a Covid insurance policy is necessary in recent times. Nevertheless, individuals should go through the details such as its features, benefits, inclusions, exclusions and more before applying for it.
FAQs
Ans: Yes, a person with a health insurance policy can raise claims for Covid-19 treatment. However, if an individual purchases health insurance after testing positive, the insurer will not cover Covid treatment expenses.
Ans: A member needs to wait for 16 or 30 days since the day of policy commencement to avail of coverage.
Ans: Mostly KYC documents are necessary for Corona insurance. However, insurance providers like Navi come with paperless insurance application procedures.
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Disclaimer: This article has been prepared on the basis of internal data, publicly available information and other sources believed to be reliable. The information contained in this article is for general purposes only and not a complete disclosure of every material fact. It should not be construed as investment advice to any party. The article does not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the information, and disclaims all liabilities, losses and damages arising out of the use of this information. Readers shall be fully liable/responsible for any decision taken on the basis of this article.
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