ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has expanded its health insurance portfolio to cover over 1,000 surgical procedures and hospitalisation.
With the launch of the new product, Hospital Care, the company moves into the realm of offering products that go beyond covering critical illnesses, and further strengthens its position as a significant player in the health insurance space.
Hospital Care is structured to ensure customers receive a pre-determined insurance amount for each procedure or hospitalisation, even if they spend less, says an ICICI Prudential media release.
Further, its long-term design of a term between 10-20 years, assures policyholders the guaranteed cushion of insurance cover even if they make a claim during the term. Available for individuals between the ages of 1-60 years, this is one of the first products that will cover people up to the age of 80 years.
Hospital Care is structured to enable customers to provide for all expenses associated with hospitalisation, ranging from room charges, doctor and surgery fees, to other incidental expenses.
The insurance benefit includes:
Daily hospitalisation cash benefit: Customer is paid a daily fixed benefit amount for every day he/she is in hospital.
Daily ICU cash benefit: Additional 50% of the daily hospitalisation benefit is paid in case the policyholder is in the intensive care unit.
Surgery benefit: Lump sum payment for a surgery, with more than 1,000 procedures covered graded as per type and severity.
Recuperating benefit: To take care of post-hospitalisation expenses.
Policyholders also enjoy a double claim benefit that will enable them to get the benefit amount under Hospital Care in addition to that claimed under any other health insurance plan. The policy offers a cashless claim benefit at 3,000 network hospitals across the country. Any insurance amounts over and above those incurred towards hospitalisation are paid directly to the policyholder.
ICICI Prudential launches Micro Systematic Investment Plan
Aimed at providing access to formal finance to over 600 million rural poor, ICICI Prudential on Wednesday launched Micro Systematic Investment Plan (MSIP).
"The scheme will provide an opportunity for the rural poor to invest periodically in small amounts, as low as Rs 50 and its multiples," ICICI Prudential managing director Pankaj Razdan said.
He said the MSIP would help the rural poor to build a corpus of savings over the long-term through a disciplined and systematic approach.
Having no lock-in period, investors are entitled to withdraw the invested amount anytime, subject to applicable exit loads.
Razdan said that the ICICI Prudential has over 200 tie-ups with micro finance institutions (MFIs) and NGOs across the country, which would act as aggregators and subsequently deposit the consolidated amount to the fund house.
"However, we will try to incorporate as many MFIs and NGOs as possible," ICICI bank's deputy managing director Nachiket Mor said. ICICI Bank has 3.2 million customers in rural areas.
ICICI Prudential is one of the largest players in the domestic mutual fund industry. As on March 31, 2007, ICICI Prudential has Rs 37,906 crore (Rs 379.06 billion) worth of assets under management.
