AYUSH Health Insurance Services in India

AYUSH is an abbreviation used for Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy. It is an alternative treatment system offered by the healthcare industry.

The drugs and medicines used under these treatments are made up of natural ingredients so that your body can absorb and accept them easily with no or minimum side effects.

As a result, many people are opting for AYUSH treatment these days. Moreover, the IRDAI has also made modifications and made rules for this therapy, and now many health insurance companies are covering AYUSH treatment.

The procedures and bio-medicines used under AYUSH treatment are obtained after robust research on the Ayurveda by our rishis thousands of years ago. Moreover, apart from Ayurveda, other therapies that are used under AYUSH treatment also provide medicines with minimal side effects. Even for some critical conditions, these therapies are proved very effective.

However, these therapies are backed by the ancient science of India and you may use these as supportive therapies along with mainstream treatments such as chemotherapy, dialysis, etc. In some cases, when AYUSH treatment is combined with mainstream treatment, gives remarkable results.

To support this many healh insurance providers are offering AYUSH cover as a part of their health insurance plans.

  Aditya Birla Health Insurance, Activ Assure Diamond Health Insurance: Varies with sum insured

Bajaj Allianz Health Insurance: Almost all the plans cover AYUSH treatment, Depends on plan,View Plan

Bharti AXA Health Insurance, Health AdvantEDGE

 Smart Health Insurance, Smart Super Health Assure Varies as per the plan,View Plan, Care Health Insurance Care Up to Rs.30,000 (varies as per the plan)View Plan

Chola MS Health Insurance, Individual Health Line Plan, Chola Health Line Plan, Up to 7.5% of the sum insured        

Digit Health Insurance, Digit Health Care Plus

Edelweiss Health Insurance

Silver, Gold, and Platinum Health Insurance Plans, Future Generali Health Insurance

Health Total: Up to the sum insured

IFFCO Tokio Health Insurance

Individual Medishield Policy: Up to 10% of sum insured

Kotak Mahindra Health Insurance, Group HealthCare Plan, Group Smart Cash Plan, Liberty Health Insurance,

 Arogya Sanjeevani Policy, Group Health Policy

 Hospi Cash Connect Policy

Niva Bupa (Formerly known as Max Bupa) Health Insurance

Health Companion: to the sum insured

Manipal Cigna Health Insurance, ProHealth Plans

    Super Top Up Plans, Arogya Sanjeevani Policy: Up to the sum insured     

 National Insurance Company, National Mediclaim Plus Policy: Up to the sum insured

New India Assurance Health Insurance

Senior Citizen Mediclaim Policy: Up to the sum insured

Oriental Insurance Company: Super Top Up Plan

Raheja QBE Health Insurance

Arogya Sanjeevani Policy: Up to the sum insured

Royal Sundaram Health Insurance, Lifeline Health Family Plus, Reliance Health Insurance, Health Infinity Plan, Star Health Insurance,

Medi Classic Insurance Policy: Up to 25% of the sum insured and maximum of Rs.25,000 per policy period

SBI Health Insurance, Arogya Premier Health Insurance, Arogya Plus Policy, Tata AIG Health Insurance, MediCare Policy, United India Health Insurance, Individual Health Insurance Policy Platinum/ Gold/ Senior Citizen, Universal Sompo Health Insurance, Healthcare Plus Policy 

 Info source credit (Policy Bazar)

Disclaimer:  Details should be verified through individual insurance company website                                

Reasons to Select a Health Insurance Policy with AYUSH Cover

If you are thinking to buy a new health insurance plan for your family, yourself, or for your parents, then you must consider buying one that also offers AYUSH treatment benefits.

Here are some of the reasons that make medical insurance with AYUSH covering the right choice for you:

    It is a highly effective treatment especially in managing health and non-surgical or non-invasive treatments. So, if you have a minor or persistent health issue, AYUSH can be a good choice for you.

    The AYUSH treatment cost is very low when it is compared to the cost of mainstream medical treatment. There are many reasons behind this but one of the major reasons is the low licensing and patenting costs.

    Being traditional treatment, finding an AYUSH practitioner in remote areas, where no big hospitals available, is very easy.

    These treatments are highly effective for elderly people. This is because with old age, the capacity of the human body to withstand the rigor the mainstream medical treatment also goes down. Under such conditions, a milder treatment approach with milder medicines is suitable for many people. Since the medicines under AYUSH treatment are milder so, it is better suited for older people.

    AYUSH treatment works well for lifestyle disease, which is the most common problem of the current time with people of all age groups. Due to sitting jobs, people are suffering from back pain, obesity, etc. and AYUSH treatment is good in dealing with all these issues.

    Another reason for selecting AYUSH treatment as an option is its facility of covering a vast array of treatment choices. These are simple yet effective treatments for mild health issues. Moreover, sometimes these treatments at an early stage of some critical diseases have also shown successful results.

AYUSH Treatment in Healthcare Services Today

To bring more light to the treatments that come under AYUSH, the Indian government in 2014, has formed the Ministry of AYUSH and then brought the National Board of Hospitals (NABH) to start quality health standards for those hospitals that are offering AYUSH treatment also.

Currently, more than 50 hospitals across India are offering AYUSH treatment.

The Impact of Including AYUSH Treatment in Health Insurance.

AYUSH treatment is gaining attention for treating spondylitis, arthritis, epilepsy, gallstone, and varied allergies. Its treatments are significantly higher in treating skin, muscular-skeletal related ailments, and persistent allergic conditions. Moreover, they are cost-effective because they have a property of low or no side effects.

In the past few years, there has been a shift in the thinking of people wherein they have started thinking about alternative treatments such as Yoga, Ayurveda, Homeopathy, etc. along with conventional treatment. For supporting this, the health insurance companies have started providing AYUSH treatment as a part of their conventional health insurance policies.

FAQs:

1. Who all can get the benefits of AYUSH?

Ans. Anyone can opt for AYUSH benefits however, for this, he/she has to talk to his/her insurance provider and ask for integrating it in his/her existing health insurance plan. Other than this, one can also purchase a senior citizen plan that provides coverage of AYUSH treatment.

2. What is not covered in an AYUSH treatment?

Ans. One is not eligible for claims if he/she is not hospitalized for at least 24 hours. Moreover, if you are getting treatment from a non-certified medical professional, then also you are not eligible for AYUSH treatment claims. An AYUSH healthcare practitioner should be accredited by the Quality Council of India of National Accreditation or Quality Council of India. The AYUSH benefits do not cover daycare treatment expenses, post and pre-hospitalization charges, or outpatient expenses while one is undergoing some alternative treatment.

3. Is it possible to get AYUSH benefits under cashless claims?

Ans. If the hospital in which you are taking treatment under AYUSH is on the list of network hospitals of your insurance provider, you can opt for a cashless facility.

4. How many AYUSH Hospitals are there in India?

AYUSH Ministry has done an appreciable work to develop complementary and traditional medicine within a short span of time.  In India, there are more than 98 Ayush accredited hospitals that offer authentic and reliable treatments as per https://www.nhp.gov.in/nabh-accredited-ayush-hospitals_mtl

The website shows Approximately 7 homoeopathic hospitals and centres are accredited to provide AYUSH insurance facilities. This is the gap which has to be considered by the AYUSH Ministry creating awareness and making it mandatory for All Homoeopathic government and private medical colleges, teaching hospitals to undergo accreditation to make people avail the AYUSH Medical facility and insurance. They can also bring it in to main stream by integrating it with conventional private multispeciality hospitals.

I have also observed every multispeciality hospital has a Dietician, Physiotherapist, Psychologist, and Yoga therapists. There is a need of one Homoeopathic doctor per fifty beds in every hospital. Many patients prefer homoeopathic treatment as an alternate/ adjuvant complementary to conventional treatment. They should be provided the facility as it is their right. A consent form may be filled up by the patient agreeing to the treatment of choice if required. A separate Homoeopathic pharmacy should be mandatory for easy reach out for medicines.

— Dr.Rajeshwari Rapata

Homoeopathic Consultant