Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority chairman J Hari Narayan recently raised concerns over the inadequacy of health cover in the country.

“Health insurance products provide coverage only where the policyholder needs to be admitted to a hospital, which is only around 20 per cent of total cost, while the remaining 80 per cent is incurred on outpatient treatment or maternity-related procedures, which are generally not covered,” he said.

“Government schemes like Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna and Aarogyasri must be complemented by public as well as private insurers for better health insurance penetration, he said.

He said the final version of IPO guidelines for life insurers might be announced by the end of July. Irda had released the draft guidelines on June 21.

Non-life insurers will have to wait longer for IPO norms. “We are still in the process of evaluating factors related to non-life insurance business and expect to come out with final IPO guidelines in two to three months,” the Irda chief said.