Context :
( 07 July 2020 )
Extract :
Ø ..a first of its kind standard Corona insurance
product, Corona Kavach, will be available in the next couple of days.
Ø ..all general insurers and standalone health
insurance players have to offer this indemnity product compulsorily by July 10.
Ø Atul Sahai, CMD, New India Assurance and
Chairman, GIC, said the general rates are high and the new rates would be about
one-fourth of that.
Ø “ Now, the insurer
will know how he has to pay to the hospital while a policyholder will have clarity
on how much he will get from the insurer,’’ Nerurkar said.
======================================================
Insurance business is
based on the same mathematics ( Theory of Probability ) as the business of a
Gambling Casino
In a Gambling Casino ,
when 10 persons lose a lot of money, one person may hit a jackpot at the
roulette table or a slot machine ( one-armed bandit ) . But, over any long
enough period, these machines are “designed “ to operate “ in favor “ of the
Casino .
Chances ( probabilities )
of “ Winning “ are much smaller than the chances of “Losing “ !
It is very much the same
in Insurance business
When ten persons “ pay “
insurance premium and never fall sick , one sick insurer files a “ claim “
So , overall , the
Insurance Company makes more money ( through premium payments ), than what it
gives out to settle “ Claims “
But there is one BIG
DIFFERENCE between these two businesses
When a stranger walks into
a Casino and starts playing, Casino-Owner has no idea / no background “
win-lose history “ of that person
Hence, the machines are so
designed that, for that stranger, the probability of winning, is VERY VERY
small . Odds are stacked against him ! Odds are in favor of the Casino
But , as far as issue of
an Insurance Policy to a citizen is concerned , it is an altogether different
ball-game
Insurance Company goes all
out to collect as much data as possible ( about a person applying for an
insurance cover ), in order to statistically calculate those “Odds / Chances /
Probabilities “, of that person falling sick and for the company to be required
to settle a claim
It does not even issue an
insurance cover ( ie; issue a Policy ) if you are above a certain age or have past
/ current history of certain illnesses
It , even makes you
undergo – and pass - a stringent Medical
Examination, before issuing a policy
======================================================
DILEMMA
Now here is the dilemma
Insurance Companies want
to make as much profit as possible
By collecting far more insurance
premium than the amount of “ payout claims “
Hence , it wants as its
customers, those citizen who have VERY LOW PROBABILITY of
getting infected by Covid
As against this, the NDA
government which is wedded to the concept of SOCIAL JUSTICE – especially for the poor / vulnerable / disadvantaged sections of our society, wants the
Insurance Companies to provide CORONA KAVACH , to these sections of people who
have a VERY
HIGH PROBABILITY of getting infected by Covid
It is simple . These poor people without jobs
and regular income, have NO MONEY for hospital expenses, should they get
infected.
They should have the HIGHEST PRIORITY among the
applicants for CORONA KAVACH
In my yesterday’s blog (
sent as email to Cabinet Ministers ) , I had suggested compilation of following
comprehensive DATA ( for those infected as well as those not infected ) , to establish priorities for administering COVAXIN vaccine.
[ A ] PERSONAL DATA
Ø Name / Birthdate (
for Age ) / Gendre / Contact Details / Aadhar number
[ B ] LOCATION DATA
Ø Permanent Address /
Current Address ( State – Jilla – City – locality ) / Red Zone /
Containment
[ C ] FAMILY DATA
Ø Details of Parents /
Siblings
[ D ] HEALTH HISTORY
Ø Details of recent
illnesses - morbidity / Medicines given ( including for Covid
treatment ) / Hospitals where treated / Names
& License Number of Doctor who
treated
[ E ] ETHNIC DATA
Ø Race /
Religion / Language ( Mother tongue )
[ F ] EDUCATIONAL DATA
Ø Graduate – Under
Graduate – Illiterate etc
[ G ] EMPLOYMENT DATA
Ø Employed – Unemployed –
Self employed
[ H ] INCOME DATA
Ø Monthly Income ( to
determine whether RICH – MIDDLE CLASS – POOR )
=========================================================
Dear
Dr HarshVardhanji,
I urge you for :
Ø Central
Govt paying the CORONA KAVACH insurance premium for those 80 crore ( 800 million )
poor persons who you have just covered for giving FREE
ration for July – November . Make CORONA KAVACH free for them
Here is an alternative :
No need for Govt to pay
the insurance premium.
At the end of the year, whatever total amount that any
Insurance Company pays ( directly ) to the hospitals for Covid related
treatment of those 80 crore poor ( insured ), to be set-off against the CSR
obligation of that Insurance Company .
If that amount exceeds CSR obligation,
unadjusted portion can be carried forward to following year
Ø Central
Government to mandate the Insurance Companies to include above-mentioned DATA FIELDS in their Online Application Forms. These
data to get instantly / automatically transmitted to the Central Server of the
Health Ministry
Ø If
for any reason it becomes necessary for the Insurance Companies to fill in the
application in a paper form, then the same should get transcribed digitally (
through “ VaccineVend
“ app , mentioned in my yesterday’s blog ? )and transmitted to Health Ministry
, in order to receive Insurance Premium, directly into their bank accounts
Dear
Dr HarshVardhanji,
At any other time ( like 12 months back when political
debate was raging re CAA – NRC – NPR etc ), such a mandatory compilation of
Exhaustive Data about our citizen, would have invited opposition from all and
sundry
But, under present situation, no
one will raise a finger against delivery of SOCIAL JUSTICE to poor people
Related reading :
With regards,
Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 08
July 2020
