Parl panel favours health insurance cover for HIV+ lot

A Parliamentary panel on Health and Family Welfare has favoured both life and health insurance cover to all the HIV positive people preferably at a normal rate of premium.Seeking insurance cover to the people suffering from the deadly AIDS, the panel headed by BSP MP Satish Chandra Misra, said that the sector should be “provided life and health insurance cover without any discrimination preferably at normal rate of premium or they may be charged slightly higher rate of premium but in no case exorbitant rate of premium.”

The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Health Ministry should pursue the matter with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) for providing insurance cover to all the HIV positive people without any discrimination, said the report which was tabled in Parliament recently.

The panel members also expressed their displeasure at the words ‘such unfair treatment is based on’ used in the Bill and asked the Government to delete such expressions in order to make the provisions more people-friendly.

While examining the Bill, the Committee had received suggestions for inclusion of a provision in Clause 3 “that no person affected with HIV/AIDS will be denied both life as well as health insurance on the count of merely his/her being HIV/AIDS positive” and “such person shall have the right to life as well as medical insurance. Any claim by such persons shall not be denied.” 

In its reply to the panel, the Ministry said that the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) was already working with the IRDA on the issue for providing life as well as health insurance to all the HIV positive people. “However, the IRDA was not in favour of providing insurance cover to such persons at normal rate of premium,” said the Government.