eServe Newsletter October 2013

Don’t have health cover? Pay upto 60% more

Sep 25, 2013, 06.59AM IST TNN Pradeep Thakur 

In a dramatic reversal of the trend that existed just three years ago, big corporate hospitals today charge health insurance card holders much less than those paying in cash for the same procedures. Those paying out of their pockets are now billed anywhere between 25% and 60% more than those with cashless health insurance schemes.

TOI did a comparative study of the amounts charged from the two categories of patients at Sir Ganga Ram, Max, Fortis and Apollo hospitals in Delhi, Medanta in Gurgaon and similar category hospitals in other metros. Sources say the trends are similar across most hospitals in India.

It appears that the Indian private healthcare system is moving closer to mirroring the situation in the US, where insurance firms are the prime factors in holding down healthcare costs and those without insurance can face crippling charges.

In 2010, TOI ran a campaign on how corporate hospitals were overcharging health insurance card holders. After the campaign, the claim ratio of four PSU insurers - National Insurance Company, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance Company - had come down to 98%. Before the campaign, this figure was as high as 130%.

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