“Premiums for group health insurance are increasing due to high claims,” says Mahavir Chopra, head, e-business and personal lines, Medimanage.com, a health insurance consultancy firm.

Mahavir Chopra head, e-business and personal lines, Medimanage, says on an average an insurance agent spends over Rs 1,000 to service a health insurance claim. The cost involved in servicing a senior citizen's claim can further increase as the number of rounds he has to do for documentation and to the TPA's office are more. Hence, this reduced commission will act as a hindrance for them in generating new clients.

"The free cover does not offer any great value to the buyer. Don't opt for a credit card only because it offers a free personal accident cover. Only if the cover is Rs 20-50 lakh does it add real value," says Mahavir Chopra, head, personal lines and e-business, with health insurance consultancy firm, Medimanage.

“Even those plans that don’t renew for lifetime will have to be refiled to offer lifelong renewability after October. However, the new premiums on such plans may be very high,” says Mahavir Chopra, head, e-business and personal lines, Medimanage.com, a health insurance portal.

Mahavir Chopra, head of e-business and personal lines at Medimanage.com, said, “There are approximately 90-100 products in health, personal accident and travel insurance put together. Of the total products, more than half don’t comply with the regulations.” “The concept of giving customers a free-look period of 15 days is there in life insurance polices but is not there in general insurance policies. This and many other features would have to be introduced in the existing products,” added Chopra.