Corona Kavach or Comprehensive Health Insurance: Which One Should You Buy?

Coronavirus cases in India are growing at an exponential rate. With more than 5.4 million confirmed cases and over 88,000 deaths as on date, India is now the 2nd worst affected country in the world. 

To tackle the crisis, earlier in July this year, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had mandated all general and health insurers to sell Corona Kavach Policy, which is a standard health insurance plan designed to cover medical expenses arising due to Covid-19. Following IRDAI’s directives, insurance companies started rolling out Corona Kavach policies.

A Corona Kavach policy is an indemnity-based cover where the hospital bill gets reimbursed up to the sum insured subject to certain terms and conditions. The policy covers both individuals and families. 

In these unprecedented times, it is important as well as necessary to get yourself a medical health cover. If you don’t have a health insurance cover and are looking to buy one, let us walk you through the advantages as well as limitations of the Corona Kavach plan and comprehensive health insurance plans, so that you can make an informed decision. 

ADVANTAGES OF CORONA KAVACH POLICY

No Room Rent Limit: The policy doesn’t have a room rent limit. So, policyholders don’t have to shell out money from their own pockets. 

Shorter waiting period: Corona Kavach Policy has a short waiting period of 15 days. This means Covid-19 will be covered after 15 days from the issuance of your policy.

Covid-19 coverage: All Covid-19 related hospitalization expenses are covered under the policy including PPE kit, gloves, mask, ICU expenses, ventilator charges, specialist fees.

Treatment at home covered: Insurer will cover the costs of treatment at home on a positive diagnosis of Covid-19 from a government authorized diagnostic centre; maximum up to 14 days per incident.

Affordable premium: Since this policy is valid till March 31, 2021, the premiums are very cheap as compared to comprehensive health insurance policies which are lifelong renewable.
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LIMITATIONS OF CORONA KAVACH POLICY

Short term policy: The policy is valid only up to March 31, 2021, and can not be renewed, unlike a comprehensive health insurance cover which is lifelong renewable. The policy tenure is three and a half months, six and half months, and nine and half months including the waiting period.

No coverage for other illnesses except Covid-19: Unlike a comprehensive health insurance plan, which provides coverage for all illnesses, Corona Kavach provides coverage for Covid-19 only.

Low sum insured: Corona Kavach is available at the low sum insured options from Rs 50,000- Rs 5 lacs which isn’t enough keeping in mind the rise in medical inflation and expensive treatment of Covid-19.
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COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY

Unlike Corona Kavach policies, comprehensive health insurance plans provide extensive coverage and cover a larger pool of diseases which also includes Covid-19.

These plans provide a host of benefits to the policyholder such as coverage for inpatient and outpatient treatments, medical consultations, alternative treatments such as Ayurveda, daycare procedures, emergency ambulance cover, reload of the sum insured etc.

Nowadays, health insurance plans with a sum insured of Rs 1 crore are available in the market at a nominal price of Rs 9,552 for a 30-year-old male living in a metro city like Delhi.
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HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST PLAN

Amit Chhabra, Business Head (Health insurance), Policybazaar.com says, “You can buy either of the policies but the only thing is whether you want coverage from Covid-19 or everything else. The second point is affordability. For example, for a 30-year-old married couple, a normal health insurance policy with Rs 5 lacs sum insured will cost Rs 8,000-10,000. So, it's not very expensive. On a monthly basis, it costs Rs 800-900 only.”

He says, if you can’t afford a comprehensive cover, then you should buy Corona Kavach.

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“Corona Kavach is basically a cheaper version of health insurance which gives coverage only against Covid-19 and nothing else. It would cost you about Rs 200 per month for a six-month time-frame but one has to decide whether to buy Rs 200 per month policy for 6 months which gives coverage only against Covid-19 or buying Rs 800 per month policy which gives coverage against everything else,” Chhabra adds.  

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“Honestly, times are uncertain and you don’t know what is going to happen after six months. So, it’s advisable to buy a comprehensive plan. The good thing is you can pay the premium in monthly installments too. So, comprehensive health insurance is affordable,” he adds.

(Article edited by Sunny Lamba)

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