Covid-recovered patients face struggle to buy health insurance policies

• Follow

Delhi-based Pradeep Singh (name changed) recovered from coronavirus last week. He now wants to buy a health insurance policy as the pandemic has made him realise the fragility of the human body. What he initially thought to be an easy and quick process soon turned out to be a nightmare as insurers asked him to reapply after the cooling-off period of around three months.

“Earlier health insurance companies used to chase me for selling their policies, today when I am in need there are hardly any proposals,” he said.

There are many like Pradeep who got infected with Covid-19. They are finding it difficult to buy a health insurance policy immediately as they may have to wait till the cooling-off period ends. Covid being a recent infection, insurers are in two minds about its long term implications. The possibility of adverse health repercussions, in the long run, has made them cautious in issuing new policies to Covid-recovered patients.

Not an easy process anymore

“After recovering from Covid infection and having tested negative, buying health insurance may not be as easy as before. Most insurance companies are resorting to a cooling-off period which may be from a few days or may go up to three months, before issuing a new policy to the individual,” said Sanjiv Bajaj, joint chairman and MD, Bajaj Capital.

SK Sethi, director and founder of RIA Insurance Brokers, concurs.

“Many insurers have come out with the concept of waiting period for issuing a health insurance policy. This waiting period starts after Covid recovery when a person will be able to buy health insurance. This waiting period ranges from 15 days to 90 days with various insurers.

Reasons behind Cooling-off period

So, why are insurers asking for a waiting period when the customer has already fought back and recovered from coronavirus?

“The cooling-off period allows a reasonable time for the buyers to assess whether they have developed any post-Covid complications and make those declarations as part of their medical history at the time of purchase of health insurance policy. This also ensures that Covid-19 infection is not treated as a pre-existing condition at all,” said Bajaj.

Sethi added, “Some insurers are issuing policies while categorising any post-Covid complication as ‘pre-existing condition’. All insurers have a standard pre-existing illness exclusion clause in their offering. Under this clause, specific ailments present at the time of application are not covered for a certain number of years. After this mandatory period of exclusion, the illness is covered under the policy. So the Covid cases with prolonged hospital stay and severe complication may have to face longer waiting periods and Covid related exclusions.”