IIB,IRDA to engage with hospitals, insurers, TPAs to maintain a health insurance and information grid

In its bid to maintain a health insurance and information grid, the Insurance Information Bureau (IIB), along with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), plans to engage with hospitals, insurance companies and third-party administrators (TPAs). As per the insurers, this will enable them to plug the loopholes in the health insurance space.

In its first step towards the goal, the IIB has started process to bring out unique identity numbers for hospitals. This would enable insurance companies to engage only with those hospitals that have been registered.

There have been instances wherein there are two or more hospitals with the same name, said an official from a private general insurance company; adding, “In the long run, since data will be transparent, health insurance charges can also be capped."

An industry official said, “This will help the health insurance industry to have a better managed system of insurance claims. In the long run, this will also bring transparency in healthcare costs and eliminate discrepancies.

The Insurance Information Bureau is an independent body that is involved in analytics and data collection/upgradation for the insurance sector. The bureau is involved in collecting health insurance data based on the different transactions with hospitals from insurers and TPAs.

As of now, there are several hospitals that charge a different rate to a patient having a health insurance policy. With the grid in place, this malpractices will come to the attention of the regulators and effective measures can be taken, leading to reduced cost for insurance companies, which could be passed on to customers, said an official.

Source: http://www.insuringindia.com