The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) suggested that ‘health insurance benefits should include outpatient department (OPD ) in hospitals, including childbirth, and asked state governments to universalize the cover.
Health insurance claims are settled generally if a patient is hospitalised for at least 24 hours and child birth too is not covered under most health policies.
1st October, 2011, will be the new deadline for health insurance portability which will allow policyholders to change their insurer without losing out on any benefits. The earlier deadline for the same was 1st of July, 2011