M. Nagaraju, Secretary at the Department of Financial Services (DFS), chaired a meeting on Thursday to review rising medical inflation and increasing health insurance premiums.
The meeting brought together representatives from the General Insurance Council, the Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI), major hospital chains including Max Healthcare, Fortis Healthcare and Apollo Hospitals, and insurers such as New India Assurance, Star Health Insurance and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
Nagaraju urged both insurers and hospitals to speed up onboarding on the National Health Claims Exchange, adopt standardised treatment protocols, implement common empanelment norms and ensure seamless cashless claims processing. These steps, he said, are essential for improving affordability and access for policyholders.
The DFS Secretary further said that standardised hospital empanelment across insurers would ensure consistent cashless access for policyholders, streamline service terms and reduce the administrative burden on hospitals. He also called on insurers to improve service delivery, particularly during hospitalisation and while approving claims.
Nagaraju added that medical inflation is linked to multiple cost drivers and stressed the need for greater collaboration between insurers and hospitals through cost control and standardisation to enhance transparency and value for health insurance customers.