The health insurance policy holders with cashless treatment facility may look towards better service from their insurers.

 

Insurers will now have to inform their policy-holders about changes (if, any) in their Preferred Provider Network (PPN) of hospitals where cashless facility is offered immediately.

 

In addition, they have to provide information about the nearest possible alternative hospitals where the cashless facility is available and the conditions, thanks to a circular issued by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) on Wednesday.

 

It may be recalled that IRDA did not intervene in the recent stand-off between the insurers and some hospitals in extension of cashless treatment facilityThe Authority in its circular said the insurers should continue to provide the benefits of cashless facility to a policy-holder once he was issued pre-authorisation for a given procedure in a given hospital, even if it was proposed to be removed from PPN list.

 

According to IRDA Chairman Mr J. Hari Narayan, the number of hospitals extending cashless facility had gone up (even after the stand-off) from 320 on July 1 to about 450 by the end of last week.