NIC may hike cost of health insurance premium to offset losses

State-run National Insurance Company (NIC) may soon hike the cost of health insurance premium to offset losses, a PTI report quoting unnamed company sources said.

The report said the hike could be between 20 and 40 per cent for NIC health products.

Meanwhile, speaking on the sidelines of an interactive session of Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata today NIC chairman and managing director NSR Chandraprasad said: "We expect to get the IRDA approval on health insurance tariff in a month's time."

Ashok K Roy chairman of the state-run General Insurance Corporation (GIC), which is a notified re-insurer, said there was a need for upward revision of health tariff for insurance companies and at the same time hospitals too needed to cut their costs.

The report also quoted senior officials of NIC speaking on condition of anonymity as saying that if IRDA's approval were to come without any observations or riders, then the implementation of higher tariff could occur from April 2013.

The regulator had been reportedly approached by general insurers, both from private and public sector, for a 10-40 per cent revision in health insurance tariff to protect losses.