Insurance regulator IRDAI on Thursday issued a circular directing insurers to cover mental healthcare, a segment of healthcare that has assumed serious proportions in India, reports Rachel Chitra.
The Mental Healthcare Act 2017, which came into force since May 29, had made it mandatory to provide " medical insurance for treatment of mental illness on the same basis as is available for treatment of physical illness ". But to date, none of India's 33 insurers has introduced a product that covers ailments such as depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, even though such covers are common in many countries. IRDAI says : " All insurance companies are directed
to comply with the Act with immediate effect."
Mental health conditions have always been in the list of exclusions of health insurance policies. Activists and psychiatrists feel the change has been long overdue. ...................
( The Times of India, Chennai, Friday, August 17, 2018 )
Courtesy : MPS
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