Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme for Disabled Persons

Sometime ago we had published an article on disability insurance in India — or the lack of it! Private insurance companies do not easily provide health or life insurance to the persons with disabilities. And if they do, the premium is almost always increased. In such a dismal scenario, the Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme has come as a huge help for the persons with Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.

Niramaya Scheme is being offered by The National Trust in collaboration with ICICI Lombard, a private insurance company. The National Trust is a statutory body constituted by enactment of an Act of Parliament by the Government of India, for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.

Benefits of Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme

Niramaya Scheme provides the following benefits:

1. Same premium irrespective of the age of the person
2. Same coverage for all irrespective of the type of disabilities covered under by The National Trust.
3. Insurance of Rs. one lakh per beneficiary.
4. Insurance is guaranteed. No “selection” will be made. Every persons with developmental disabilities and enrolled with The National Trust will be eligible for insurance.
5. Unlike the going trend in the market, no exclusion will be made because of pre-exisiting condition.
6. No medical tests will be conducted before providing the insurance cover.
7. Services covered under the scheme:
   1. Regular medical check up
   2. Hospitalization
   3. Therapy
   4. Corrective Surgery
   5. Transportation
   6. Repetitive medical intervention as an in-patient
   7. Pre and post hospitalization expenses
8. OPD treatment can be taken from any qualified Medical Practitioner. In-patient (i.e. admitted in hospital) treatment can be taken from any hospital. The cost will be reimbursed (subject to the insurance limit)

NOTE: Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme is available throughout India except in Jammu & Kashmir.

Eligibility Criteria for Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme

• Person should have a disability covered under the National Trust Act
• Person to be insured should have a valid disability certificate.

If a registered organization (e.g. a trust or a society) is interested in insuring persons with disabilities under the Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme, then that organization needs to be registered with the National Trust. Fee for such a registration is Rs. 1000 at present.

Documents Required for Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme

Persons Living Below Poverty Line (BPL)

• Properly filled Enrollment Form
• One passport size photograph of the person to be insured
• Self-attested and valid disability certificate
• BPL Card (both original and photocopies)
• Address Proof (both original and photocopies)
• Proof of payment of applicable fee (bank receipt).

Non BPL

• Properly filled Enrollment Form
• One passport size photograph of the person to be insured
• Self-attested and valid disability certificate
• Address Proof (both original and photocopies)
• Income certificate of (self attested) the parent/guardian competent authority as issued by the State
• Proof of payment of applicable fee (bank receipt).

PwD with Legal Guardian (Other than natural parents)

• Properly filled Enrollment Form
• One passport size photograph of the person to be insured
• Self-attested and valid disability certificate
• Legal Guardian Certificate issued from the Local Level Committee constituted under section 13 of The National Trust Act, 1999
• Address Proof (both original and photocopies)
• Proof of payment of applicable fee (bank receipt).

Fee to be Paid for Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme

Persons living Below Poverty Line (BPL) have to pay a fee of Rs. 250

Non-BPL persons have to pay a fee of Rs. 500

PwD with Legal Guardian do not have to pay any fee.

These fees are to be paid every year.

Renewal of Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme

Enrollment of in the scheme is done until the coming 31 March. For example, if you register on 22 September 2018, you will need to renew the insurance policy on 31 March 2019. The next renewal will be in 31 March 2020.

This way you have to renew your policy on every 31 March.

You will have to pay the renewal fee every time.

We hope this information was useful for you. If you have any more information to share on this scheme, please let me know in the comments section. Also, feel free to ask any questions related to this topic. Thank you for connecting to WeCapable!