COVID-19 related healthcare claims 23000 crores

Covid-related health insurance claims have crossed ₹23,000 crore for non-life insurers as a result of the surge in cases.

Notably the average duration of hospitalization and claim amount has come down in the second wave of the pandemic as compared to the first wave last year.

Data with General Insurance Council (GIC) reveals that insurers had received 15.32 lakh Covid-related claims by May 20 amounting to ₹23,715 crore. 

Out of this claims, 12.59 crore claims worth ₹12,133 crore have been settled.

As per the data, about 1.13 lakh patients who had filed claims were still under treatment, while 22,461 had died and the remaining 13.96 lakh have been discharged.

Rapid clearance of claims-a big sigh of relief

Insurers informed that the average claim size is now lower at about ₹95,000 against the earlier ₹1,15,000 for patients hospitalized for Covid-19. The duration of stay has also come down to about six days from the previous nine-day period.

Despite the huge number of cases, both hospitals and insurers are better prepared to deal with claims this year and they said that timely clearance of claims is the focus at present. 

According to some leading insurers, the average claim size has slightly come down mainly because the duration of hospitalization has come down to about six days now from the earlier average of nine days. There is much clarity now about the treatment.  Standardized practices are being followed. Hospitals are flooded with patients, but they are being sent for home quarantine once they are not critical.

As per the order by the IRDAI, all efforts are being made to ensure that Covid-related hospitalization claims are cleared within an hour.

Looking at the number of claims, the GIC data further revealed that amongst States, Maharashtra had the largest number of Covid claims at 5.51 lakh, followed by Gujarat with 1.72 lakh and Karnataka with 1.28 lakh claims. 

At the same time, 1.23 lakh claims have come from Tamil Nadu and 85,000 plus claims have been made from Delhi.

image: https://unsplash.com/@ashkfor121

Finvestor Social Media

Krishna Rath is a SEBI Registered Investment Adviser, and since 2015 has been educating netizens on investments and insurance. Krishna is a fee only SEBI RIA and is Odisha's first SEBI RIA. With background in IT, Krishna is changing the advisory space with new innovations in AdvisoryTech.

See Full Bio