Doctors body welcomes proposed regulator exclusively for health insurance

New Delhi: The Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI) has lauded the Ministry of Finance for contemplating setting up an independent regulator for health insurance.

The ministries of finance and health are in discussions over the need for a sector watchdog to help achieve the IRDAI Vision 2047.

The AHPI, representing a vast majority of private sector hospitals in the country, is also represented on the IRDAI advisory for the healthcare sector.

In an official letter, the AHPI said, "This is a welcome move as making healthcare available, accessible and affordable has been resolved by the present government."

The AHPI is very much engaged in this initiative. Penetration of private insurance is increasing at a fast pace and along with government-run insurance, India should soon be covering 70 per cent of the population, which will be a milestone to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), it said.

The AHPI has suggested that the proposed regulator, besides regulating the private insurance sector, must also cover all insurance schemes run by the government, such as PMJAY, CGHS, ECHS, ESI etc.

Under the IRDAI Vision 2047, the government is aiming to provide "Insurance for All" by 2047, which means every citizen will have appropriate life, health and property insurance coverage and every enterprise will be supported by appropriate insurance solutions.

This can only happen if the government insurance schemes are restructured in a manner that more and more tertiary-care hospitals come forward and get empanelled in these schemes to enable the beneficiaries to get healthcare services, the AHPI said.

"We have been requesting to have an independent agency that can restructure these schemes, including fixing reimbursement rates for various medical procedures on a scientific basis. Without this, most hospitals are not coming forward to empanel under these schemes, depriving extending tertiary care to the beneficiaries under these schemes. We request that the proposed regulator should also cover government health insurance schemes," said Dr Girdhar Gyani, Director General, AHPI.