New India's med claim insurance policy virtually excludes everything. It says the policy will cover reimbursement of hospitalization expenses for illness/diseases or injury sustained. But it rules out expenses incurred for treatment of asthma, bronchitis, chronic nephritis and nephritic syndrome, diarrhea and all types of dysentery including gastro-enteritis, diabetes mellitus and insipid us, epilepsy, hypertension, influenza, cough and cold, all psychiatric or psychosomatic disorders, pyrexia of unknown origin for less than 10 days, tonsillitis and upper respiratory tract infection including laryngitis, arthritis and rheumatism. It has an exclusion clause which 'again' excludes pretty much everything. For instance, injury or disease directly or indirectly caused by or arising from attributable to war, invasion, acts of foreign enemy, warlike operation (whether war be declared or not) is excluded.

Dental treatment or surgery of any kind, unless requiring hospitalisation, is also excluded. If you are a patient of hypertension, you are left to your fate. Considering the rising number of hypertension patients, it is strange that India does not want to insure them. Since the, amended Insurance Act gives preference to such, companies which want to extend health cover, the IRDA needs to do something drastic and immediate to put sense into New India if it is unable to shake it then it must insist on new non-life players to extend health insurance cover for excluded categories.In the United States, where without insurance you cannot even breathe, such as disorders or diseases excluded by New India are admissible provided a higher premium is paid.

But what is not understandable is the stand of the, New Assurance Company to exclude them. In Europe and the US hypertension patients are even allowed to buy medicine as part of the insurance cover and not just when the person needs hospitalisation. The highly litigious US society does not consider hypertension a disease.The IRDA has so far issued 12 licences of which five are for non-life. It is these companies which are supposed to extend health cover. It is said that the government will come out with medical insurance scheme for serving and retired government employees. But what about those who ate not in government service and do not have benevolent employers to take care of their medical needs? Kindly leave them to New India.