Insurers call for standardised surgery rates in India
Insurers in India are banding together to standardise the prices of common surgery procedures
Thirty-one insurers in India have joined 26 third-party administrators (TPAs) to fix rates for more common surgical procedures such as cataract, hernia, appendicitis removal and angioplasty. And The Times of India has reported that, while hospitals still need to agree to the proposed tariffs, insurers seem confident that the fixed pricing will soon come to pass.
Driving the fair price bid is the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the General Insurance Council and regional insurers. Secretary-General of the Council Mr M N Sharma noted that as some of the small insurers and TPAs do not have the same bargaining capacity as some of the bigger firms, they are being charged different rates by the same hospital.
New India Assurance, National Insurance, United India and Oriental Insurance – all government-run general insurers in India ─ have already instated a common price list for medical procedures under the General Insurance Public Sector Association. The IRDAI has made the decision to extend this model to private insurers and TPAs.