Insurance companies need to take more initiative and devise different medical insurance packages and products to cover mental health disorders, stressed most speakers at a recent conference organised by Poddar Foundation.
With mental health disorders having risen significantly over the last few decades and causing considerable burden and financial stress on the individual and the society as well, it has become imperative to institute the right and proper kind of packages of insurance for mental health, said CEO of Masina Hospital Dr. Vispi Jokhi.
He said that the ‘insurance people tend to objectify everything’ which creates problems in defining and determining mental health. Dr Jokhi was speaking at conference to discuss the importance of dissemination and implementation of insurance for mental health organised by the Poddar Foundation.
Dr. Prakriti Poddar of Poddar Foundation said the objective of the conference was to:
- To showcase the need for the Insurance Policy
- To highlight the readiness of various Stakeholders, and to discuss the optimal design for coverage
- Dissemination for successful adoptability
- Launch of the White Paper for the Insurance for Mental Health
Psychiatrist Dr. Kersi Chavda from Sir HN Reliance Foundation pointed out that there are only about 6000 psychiatrists and 4000 psychologists in India, while the patients are millions. There is an acute shortage of trained mental health experts. Psychiatric treatment can be expensive, making it very difficult especially for individuals to access care, hence insurance for mental health is a must for people to avail of treatment and keep healthy, he said.
Despite the Mental Health Care Act, making provisions to ensure that mental illness is at par with physical illness, with the absence of clear guidelines for implementation and design of Mental Health insurance products, this directive poses a challenge to proper execution.
Poddar Foundation started the conversation around the implementation of insurance
for mental health as a result of the unadopted mandate of the IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) suggesting that Mental Health Insurance be included by all insurance companies providing health insurance. The focus was also on the challenges that insurance companies were facing vis-à-vis the creation of these product/s.
Actor and activist Rahul Bose, said that insurance needs to be more nuanced and detailed to get a better grip on the different grades and shades of mental health. A depression could mutate into something major, which needs to be recognised by the insurance people. Founder Swades Foundation, Ronnie Screwvala, felt that it is important to channelize more avenues of conversation to understand mental health better and to achieve insurance.
On May 29th, the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 came into being. The Act states that it is mandatory to provide insurance for treatment of mental illness. The insurance policy should cover ailments such as depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. But, currently there are limited products covering these.
Sanjay Datta, Chief – Underwriting & Claims of ICICI Lombard General Insurance, agreed that mental health insurance has been very slow. “Most of our coverage is hospitalization patients. We have to start moving health check-ups which are physical and mental.” He admitted that there are increasing cases of mental disorders impacting society, its functioning and economy. He narrated the well-known case of the plane crash in the French Alps which killed 144 passengers caused by the co-pilot who suffered from depression. The co-pilot had hidden his depression from his employer. “We need to evolve policies and packages that can be implemented by all sectors.”
Vijay Nalawalla, a user survivor and founder of Bipolar India shared his feedback on the conference:
Health Insurance for Mental Health was the theme of the conference and that is what drew me to it. The Panelists were drawn from diverse fields which brought in interesting and refreshing perspectives. What left me disappointed, then? The conversations were more around mental health, the stigma around it and the lack of awareness which did not address the topic.
The drift of the discussions led me (and probably, the audience) to believe that it was important for Health Insurance to cover mental illnesses and we need to make concerted efforts to see this happen. Aren't we well past this point today? Isn't this just an eventuality, come Oct 1st, 2020 (that being the deadline issued by IRDA to all Insurers to cover Mental Illnesses in their health insurance policies)? In fact there was no mention of this deadline at all in any conversation. Nor was light shed on Mental Health Care Act 2017 and how it had been instrumental in IRDA mandating parity between physical and mental illnesses as far as health insurance is concerned.
To me the big question was - 'What happens to those with existing health insurance policies and have not disclosed their mental illnesses? So, pre-existing conditions, the biggest issue involved, got scant mention.
With an Underwriter from a large private sector firm present on the Panel, I felt that could have been addressed threadbare.
Most speakers felt that it is a long haul, but we need to keep pushing boundaries.
The conference was aptly titled “Silence तोडो, Insurance जोड़ो” - breaking the silence around Mental Health and it’s need to be insured!
