Finance ministry pushes hospitals, insurers for faster cashless claims and standardised protocols

The finance ministry has asked hospitals and insurance companies to take measures such as expediting the onboarding on National Health Claims Exchange, devising standardised treatment protocols, common empanelment norms, seamless cashless claims processing etc. to make healthcare affordable and accessible.

Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju on Thursday chaired a meeting of representatives of leading insurers, hospitals, General Insurance Council and Association of Healthcare Providers (India) to discuss the issue of medical inflation and rising premium costs, a statement issued by the finance ministry said on Friday.

During the meeting held on Thursday, it said, the secretary emphasised having standardised hospital empanelment norms across all insurers would ensure consistent cashless access for policyholders, streamline the service terms, improve operational procedures and reduce administrative burden on hospitals.

He stressed that the insurance companies should ensure that the policy holders are provided with the highest standards of service and better turnaround time especially during hospitalisation process and while providing approvals for settlement of claims.

During the meeting he also advised that while medical inflation is interconnected with various cost drivers, greater collaboration between hospitals and insurers through cost control and standardization is necessary to bring transparency and efficiency to ensure better value for health insurance policyholders.