With the advent of advanced technology, organ transplantation is now a reality. There’s a huge demand of organ transplants in India but only a small fraction can be met. The reason is not only the reluctance and rarity of the willing donors but also the high costs involved in the treatment. There are not many insurers out there who are keen on covering organ donor’s expenses. For most of the health insurance policies, organ donor’s expense is generally considered to be an exclusion. However, some insurers have taken the initiative of providing policyholders an inbuilt cover on organ donor’s expenses.

The ones worth mentioning are Religare Health Insurance Company Limited, Apollo Munich, Max Bupa and Bharti AXA.  The industry is hoping that other insurers will follow suit. 

There are two key concerns regarding organ donor’s cover that needs to be addressed:

• Firstly, the cover provided is confined to the organ transplant surgery. If say post-surgery, the donor falls a prey to illness as a result of donating the organ, he’ll not be covered, implying that the insurer will no more be responsible to cover the donor’s expenses out of his own pocket. Might we mention, that selective standalone health insurers like Religare and Apollo Munich have extended the post hospitalisation cover for up to 180 days.
• Secondly, It is a medical fact that donee is more vulnerable to health risks than the donor. But since the organ transplant cover is subjected to sub-limits, the donee ends up incurring the cost of treatment on his own.

The industry experts are expecting that the health insurers will take a note of such points and come up with comprehensive policies covering the expenses related to the treatment of both the donor and the donee.