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New Delhi
India is in talks with OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, particularly their insurance providers, to explore the possibility of allowing medical insurance claims for foreign nationals who visit India for Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) treatment.
This initiative aims to facilitate medical coverage for individuals seeking alternative and traditional forms of healthcare and treatment here.
According to Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, “portability of medical insurance” is being discussed, while international standardisation of treatment and operating procedures are being discussed too.
The OECD countries include the USA, UK, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Portugal, Sweden, Slovania, South Korea, Switzerland, France, Slovakia, Greece. , among others.
Ayush visa
Portability in this case means, if the foreign national – say a German – comes to India on an Ayush visa and takes medical treatment in India under any of the accredited institutions, following certain “laid down guidelines that are internationally accepted,” then his claims will be valid with the insurance provider of his country.
Generally, alternative treatment forms are not covered under medical insurance claims globally, apart from in India.
Standard treatment guidelines for Ayush are in-place and these are being reviewed from time-to-time, Kotecha said.
The BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) has already published 50-plus standards in Ayush medicines and plans are afoot to introduce ISO Standards, that will allow it international access to over 100 countries. A committee for standardisation of alternative treatment is being pushed at the BIS too.
“So, we are in talks with insurance providers, primarily those in OECD countries to allow inter-operability or portability of policies. If some foreign national comes to India, gets an alternative or traditional form of treatment here, then these can be claimed under his medical insurance policy. It will require standardisation of guidelines, convincing insurance providers towards the scientific approach of alternative methods of treatment, and also the fraud detection mechanism in place,” he told businessline on the sidelines of a program organised by the Ministry.
Ayush visa categories were introduced last year as part of India’s drive to push up medical tourism.
Approximately 2 million patients visit India each year from 78 countries for medical, wellness and IVF treatments, generating $6 billion for the industry which is expected to reach $13 billion by 2026 backed by the government’s ‘Heal in India’ initiative.
Ayush claims rise
India’s insurance regulatory, IRDAI, recently issued directions to all insurance companies telling them to cover Ayush treatment just as other treatments.
According to Kotecha, alternative and traditional treatment insurance claims till December 31, 2023 (first 9 months of FY24) stood at 10,826, up 54 per cent, over the FY23 (full year) when claims were 7,006. Between FY19 and 9MFY24, claims increased 280 per cent from 2,859.
Similarly, disbursements (money released) shot up 447 per cent between FY23 and 9MFY24 from ₹13.82 crore to ₹75.52 crore. Between FY19 and 9MFY24, the disbursals increased over 1000 per cent. In FY19, money released by insurance companies were ₹6.3 crore.
As per last available data, there were 280-odd insurance products across companies here in the Ayush category.
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