A group insurance plan for 250 HIV-affected people was launched in Bangalore recently, in a public-private initiative

A group insurance plan for HIV-positive people, covering their treatment cost, etc, was launched in Bangalore earlier this month in a first such effort in India.

The pilot initiative will provide insurance cover of Rs 30,000 to 250 people living with HIV in Karnataka’s six districts of Bellary, Mangalore, Mandya, Kolar, Mysore and Udupi. The insurance is not available to individuals.

The insurance cover provides assistance of Rs 15,000 to beneficiaries for hospitalisation, and a similar sum to their families in the event of death.

The scheme was launched by the NGO Population Services International (PSI) in partnership with Star Health and Allied Insurance Company and the Karnataka Network for Positive People (KNP+). The project is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Project Connect, aimed at public-private partnerships to arrest the growth of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in the country.

The annual premium for the policy works out to Rs 1,500 per person, with PSI bearing half the cost.

Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society project director, Manjunath Prasad, said the state had 2.5 lakh HIV-affected people and 33,000 people suffering from AIDS.

The insurance cover will help people with HIV, those with CD4 counts of 300 or below, to access cashless treatment at around 300 hospitals in Karnataka. According to assistant vice-president for Star Health and Allied Insurance Company, C P Udayachandran, hospitals have been told about the insurance cover and have been instructed not to turn away anyone with HIV.

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has initiated a process of talking to major insurance players at the national level to evolve a national scheme for people living with HIV and their families, NACO director Sujatha Rao said.

“We are trying to work on an insurance policy that will provide a package of services. We want to include even healthy people and families of those with HIV. A scheme for only the HIV infected would mean higher premiums,” Rao added.

Source: Yahoo News, August 14, 2008
www.indianexpress.com, August 13, 2008