Star Health and Allied Insurance CMD V Jagannathan, flanked by S Prakash, COO, and V Shanta, Chairperson, Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai, at the launch of Star Cancer Care Gold policy
The scheme has two sum-insured options of ₹3 lakh and ₹5 lakh
Star Health and Allied Insurance (SHAI) has introduced
what it calls an industry-first health insurance cover for people
already diagnosed with cancer.
The new health
insurance scheme, Star Cancer Care Gold, comes in two sum-insured
options — ₹3 lakh and ₹5 lakh. Persons in the age group five months to
65 years, who have already been diagnosed with cancer (stage 1 and 2),
can take this insurance.
“This is the first-ever
insurance cover for cancer-affected people. At present, health cover is
not available for people who are diagnosed with cancer. The unique
feature of our policy is that it can be bought without a prior medical
check-up.
“Customers can submit previous medical
records, including details of latest treatment,” said V Jagannathan,
Chairman and Managing Director, SHAI.
Star Cancer
Care Gold (SCCG) covers the risk of recurrence, the spread of cancer
(metastasis) and second cancer (second malignancy).
It
offers lumpsum payout of half the entire sum insured soon after
diagnosis of the disease. The policy also covers surgical, non-surgical
as well as interventional treatment for non-cancer-related diseases,
accident cover, etc., like regular medical insurance.
Premium amount for SCCG will vary from ₹12,250 (excluding tax) to ₹35,100 depending on the age and sum-insured.
“This
is a pilot stage and we will gradually increase the sum-insured amount
based on the response and other outcomes,” said S Prakash, Chief
Operating Officer, SHAI. V Shanta, Chairperson, Adyar Cancer Institute,
Chennai, who launched the scheme, said cancer cover is important in the
context of growing treatment costs. “The burden has increased from about
₹4.73 lakh in the mid-1980s to ₹12 lakh now, and is expected to
increase ₹15 lakh by 2020,” she added.
She
pointed out that cancer was no longer a dreadful disease. Due to
technology and continuing research, cancer treatment levels have moved
from conservative/conventional to precision and personalised ones.
