ICICI Lombard revamps health insurance portfolio, offers new features

Think insurance for at-home treatment and 24x7 doctor tele-consultation.... features made for the COVID era.

India's private health insurers cover only 18% of the country's urban population and a little of 14% in rural areas as per a PWC report titled Covid-19: Impact on the Indian Insurance Industry. For a country of over a billion people, these numbers are poor indicators of health insurance coverage.

With the pandemic playing havoc, it's affected not just people's psyche but also presented new challenges to health insurance companies such as product development and claims payout.

In a recent ad, ICICI Lombard, the general insurance company, says it has revamped its health insurance portfolio and introduced new solutions keeping COVID – 19 in mind.

The ad first shows how the virus has altered the way we interact with people: sanitise someone's hand before letting them inside our homes, maintain social distancing, and to sanitise and shower right after we enter our homes... The second part of the ad explains how the brand's new offerings: tele-consulting a doctor 24x7, online medicines order and delivery, and insurance for treatment availed at home will let you restart your life the right way.

For instance, if a consumer is hesitant to visit a doctor, ICICI Lombard’s tele-consult facility enables her to seek expert medical advice on the phone itself including obtaining an e-prescription that can be ordered online.

Sanjeev Mantri, Executive Director, ICICI Lombard General Insurance: Amid the lockdown relaxations, consumers are wanting to restart life but hesitating to do so, amid the heightened health concern. At ICICI Lombard, we understand this ‘new normal’ situation and have accordingly reoriented ourselves by introducing relevant solutions for our customers. Our new campaign that showcases new-age benefits reassures customers that by following safety protocols and equipping themselves with our health insurance solutions, they can go ahead and #RestartRight.

Talha Bin Mohsin and Mahesh Parab, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Mumbai: The new normal has brought with it new uncertainties that have left us with a lot of unanswered questions. We all are trying to make sense of the new range of dos and don’ts. But even in these testing times, we wanted to tell people that ICICI Lombard has suitably adapted its services to help its customers adapt to the new normal, seamlessly. While the world awaits a restart, our new health insurance solutions are here to make it right.