November 2007 Edition

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Vidya Viswanathan
New Delhi

A group policy for HIV positive people has been launched by the Chennai-based Star Health and Allied Insurance Company.“The policy will cover persons in the event that they contract AIDS,” says Dr Mohammed Arif, project coordinator. The policy was originally structured for groups of 500, but a pilot in Karnataka is for 300 people. The market is 5.7 million HIV infected persons. To be eligible a positive person’s CD4 count should be above 350. The policy covers a person from birth to any age. If a positive person develops AIDS, the policywill provide a lump sum amount between Rs 50,000 and Rs 100,000. The premiums will vary between Rs 1,500 and Rs 8,000 a year. An additional premium of Rs 390 will cover hospitalisation for an amount up to Rs 30,000. These are small sums considering the cost of hospitalisation and loss of livelihood that someone with AIDS contends with. But Star Health’s intention is to make a beginning and then scale up.

The company hopes to market its insurance policy to groups through the government, non-profits and private companies. It wants toreach out to high risk groups such as commercial sex workers and transgender people.“We are targeting premium of Rs 5 to 6 crores in the first year with an average policy of Rs 20,000 and premium of Rs 2,500. We are the only player after the Ugandan government to start an insurance product like this,” says Arif. “So there is no prior data in any of the sectors that we are operating in. As the cases increase we could change the amount and premium,” explains Arif. Star Health is launching the policy as a pilot with the Washingtonbased non-profit Population Services International (PSI) under their Project Connect banner. “It is commendable that they decided to launch a product like this. I would not like this to remain a pilot. We want to learn for a year and sustain it,” says Debapriya Sen of PSI.“Project Connect is about workplace intervention for HIV patients and we are working with corporate and government agencies. We would like this group insurance project to scale up.”

PSI has done its own survey with the Karnataka Network of Positive People (KNPP).“We met the presidents of various positive people’s groups and we found Star’s premium high. We think people would find it difficult to pay even Rs 100 a month. Initially, when they got approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), it was a group insurance for 500 people already infected withAIDS and we told them that with the free antiretro viral drugs that are available the chances of HIV infected people getting AIDs has reduced dramatically.” The policy has already been altered with this feedback. “It is now a group insurance for 300 people who are HIV positive,” explains Sen who does not want to disclose the premium they have negotiated but she says the cover will be for Rs 30,000, Rs40,000 or Rs 60,000. The KNPP will pay 50 per cent of the premium and PSI along with Star Health will raise the remaining 50 per cent. “It is our responsibility to mobilise 300 people,” says Sen. Star Health got approval from IRDA under the general insurance category but was the first pure-play health insurer. Apollo DKV is the only other pure-play health insurer in the market today. “We have 27 products in this space. We have insurance products for senior citizens, diabetic patients and for people with critical illnesses,” says Arif.

The company has also signed up with the Andhra Pradesh government to provide cover to two million below the poverty line (BPL)families in three districts at an annual premium of Rs 66 crores under the Arogyashree Scheme. It has also got into the healthcare business and is setting up a chain of primary health care centres where insurance cases will also be screened. Star Health was started with equity of Rs 105 crores with a 26 per cent foreign direct investment contribution. About 10 per cent has come from Oman Insurance, hile the remaining 16 per cent is from private investors. The rest of the equity has come from domestic industrialists with varied interests.The company is headed by Mr V. Jagannathan, Managing Director and CEO. According to him the market potential for health insurance is at least Rs 15,000 crores of which only about Rs 1,750 crores has been tapped.

Jagannathan was earlier the Chairman and Managing Director of United India Insurance Company.

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