Health insurance may be about to get a new regulator

livemint.com:

₹25,000 (self and family) to ₹50,000, while raising this further for senior citizens. However, no view on this has been taken so far, the people cited above said. Separately, digital banking units (DBUs) may be allowed to provide more financial products, including insurance policies and other products, to advance financial inclusion.

This initiative may be launched first in a set of 75 new DBUs, and later in every new DBU. “The idea is to extend basic digital services for delivering a whole host of financial products through the infrastructure set up under DBUs. This will help DBUs to turn into a major vehicle of financial inclusion, bringing banking and financial services to the doorstep of people in unbanked areas with limited financial services," said one of the two people cited above.

A DBU is a specialized fixed point business unit or hub housing certain minimum digital infrastructure for delivering digital banking products and services, as well as servicing existing financial products and services digitally, in both self-service and assisted mode. The government may also bring stringent norms to curb misselling of insurance in coordination with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). It may also facilitate opening of the agency channel for the general insurance industry to increase insurance penetration.

Meanwhile, the government feels the need for a separate health insurance regulator to make health insurance affordable for all while addressing issues such as standardization of treatment costs and fast settlement of claims. The finance ministry has been in touch with the health ministry over this for some time and a definite plan is now likely to be unveiled. According to CareEdge