State-run health insurance providers stick to pruned list of preferred hospitals for cashless claims

Four state-run insurance companies, including New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance, United India Insurance and National Insurance Company, have decided to stick to the `Preferred Provider Network' for health insurance.

The decision was made at a meeting of insurance companies, healthcare providers and third-party administrators organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

They also agreed to drastically reduce the number of approved hospitals, mainly in the metros, in the Preferred Provider Network, effective 1 July.

The discussions came after a 13-day deadlock in the insurance sector, as the public-sector insurance companies drastically pruned the list of hospitals where their cashless facility would be on offer, the report said.

The companies slashed the list of 800-plus hospitals in Mumbai to a mere 90 and cut 150-odd high-end hospitals in the Delhi region. Even as they refused to roll back their Preferred Provider Network effective 1 July,  the PSU companies agreed to be part of a working group that will, in the next three months, work out new insurance products.

The insurers and the healthcare industry agreed on the gradation of hospitals for the purpose of mediclaim facilities. The hospitals would be graded in three categories A, B and C on the basis of facilities and specialties.