New India Assurance Company, a well known name in the general insurance sector, plans to launch a low-premium health insurance policy for the masses, according to its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr M. Ramadoss.

The proposed mediclaim policy, expected to be one of the lowest priced in the market, would cover a selected number of diseases and also restrict the number of hospitals from which the policyholders can avail themselves of the medical services, Mr Ramadoss said.

“The whole idea is to bring down the premium rates by restricting the choices to the insured,” The policyholders in this case would be given a list of hospitals for availing themselves of the medical services and the policy might cover a selected 51 common diseases, he pointed out.

“Currently, the standard annual premium rate for a mediclaim policy is Rs 1,000 for a sum insured of Rs 1 lakh. We wish to bring down the rates in the new policy to the sub-thousand levels,” he said. The sum insured for the policy may be Rs 1 lakh or more, he added.

He, however, maintained that the policy was still in the designing stage and the financials for the same were not yet frozen.