Introduces High Deductible Top Up option on an annual aggregate basis

the first of its kind Adds customer centric features to allow greater flexibility

Mumbai, 28 February 2012: Max Bupa, a specialist Health Insurance company, has introduced an enhanced version of its flagship product, Heartbeat Health Insurance Plan, making it one of the most comprehensive yet flexible health covers available in the market. One of the key new features include High Deductible Top Up option on an annual aggregate basis which is an industry first. Also now the customers can opt for two year policy tenure.

With the launch of this version of Heartbeat Health Insurance Plan, the customers will not need to purchase an additional comprehensive Health Insurance policy in case their current health cover is inadequate. They can just add Heartbeat High Deductible option to top up their current coverage for an adequate coverage. Max Bupa is the first insurer to offer this option on an annual aggregate basis. The customers can select from the high deductible options (depending on their need and the coverage offered in their current policy) available to top-up their existing coverage with additional sum insured of Rs. 2 lacs or Rs. 3 lacs. It will provide them additional protection at an affordable cost.

Speaking about the enhanced version of Max Bupa’s flagship product, Dr. Damien Marmion, Chief Executive, Max Bupa said, “Heartbeat Health Insurance Plan is one of the most comprehensive health insurance products in the category as it provides wide coverage with minimal exclusions and sub limits. While Heartbeat has received great customer response since launch, we have incorporated some new features to further enrich our product offering basis customer feedback. This will be coupled with the Max Bupa service advantage like cashless approvals within four hours, access to quality network of hospitals across India, among others.”

He further added, “With healthcare costs increasing exponentially every year, the need for health insurance cannot be understated. Moreover even people who have some health insurance cover may find it inadequate as they grow older or move into different life-stages. For such people, the High Deductible Top Up option in Heartbeat Health Insurance Plan is an ideal option, which is also easy to administer.”

Detailing out the new features of Heartbeat Health Insurance Plan, Birender Ahluwalia, Director-Sales & Distribution, Max Bupa said, “One of the key differentiators’ of the enhanced version of Heartbeat Health Insurance Plan is the high deductible top up option which works on an annual aggregate basis and not on per claim basis, making it simple to use and easy to understand. The Max Bupa top up cover kicks in when the customer exhausts his or her high deductible limit. Moreover, the high deductible option can be availed by the customer’s entire family to top up their already existing health insurance policy. The customers also have the option of switching from a high deductible option to a full-fledged policy and they can avail benefits of continuity of waiting period like pre-existing diseases as applicable.”’

Now the customer will have the option to choose between one year and two year policy tenure. The two years policy term option available for Heartbeat Individual and Family Floater plans will offer multiple advantages to the customer like discounted pricing and free them up from the hassle of renewing the policy every year.

Some of the other additional features include introduction of room option for customers with Heartbeat Silver Plan, allowing a child to continue in the same policy even after attaining the age of 21 years and letting customers propose a policy for their near and dear ones without being insured in the same policy (for eg: A son can propose a policy for his parents even if he is not insured in the same policy).

Key product and service features:

1. Room options for Heartbeat Silver Plan – If the customer has a Silver plan, he/she can opt for either a shared room or any room category subject to 1% of sum insured (for eg, if his sum insured is Rs.3 lac, then he can select either a shared room or any room whose rent is up to Rs.3000 per day). This is applicable for Heartbeat Individual and Heartbeat Family Floater plan.
2. High Deductible option (on an Annual Aggregate Basis) to top up existing health insurance coverage – Now the customer can opt to top up his/her existing health insurance coverage with high deductible option and get additional coverage of 2 lacs or 3 lacs over the existing sum insured available in his health insurance policy.
3. 2 year Policy Option – Now, the customer need not to remember his policy renewal date every year. He can opt for 2 year policy tenure and not worry about renewing his policy every year.
4. A proposer need not to be an insured – Now the customer can purchase a health insurance plan for his loved ones without being an insured in the same policy. A legal guardian can also be a Proposer.
5. A customer’s child can continue in same policy even after attaining the age of 21

In addition to regular health insurance benefits such as in-patient treatment and hospital accommodation, medical expenses like doctor’s fees, diagnostics procedures, medicines and consumables, operation theatre charges among others, Max Bupa offers the following service benefits to its customers:

• Directly service all customers without any third party involvement
• Cashless approvals within 4 hours
• Network of over 1100 quality hospitals across the country
• Assured renewability for life
• Maternity & Child care benefits: The Family Floater and Family First option provide maternity benefits for up to two deliveries. All new born babies (where maternity is covered) are automatically covered from birth until next renewal of the plan. First year vaccinations for all new borns are also covered.
• No age restriction for enrollment from newborns to senior citizens. There is no minimum or maximum age for enrollment.
• Pre- and post-hospitalization medical expenses: Medical expenses incurred due to illness up to 30 days immediately before and 60 days immediately after a customer’s admission to a hospital.
• Responsible Enrollment based on customers’ healthcare needs
• Comprehensive coverage ranging from Rs. 2 lacs to Rs. 50 lacs. All day care procedures covered
• Cover for the extended family including spouse, parents, children, in-laws and siblings (covers upto 13 relationships) under Heartbeat Family First.
• Proactive health relationship and benefits like Health check-up on renewal (as per Heartbeat Plan chosen), 24/7 health line and Health relationship loyalty programme.
• High quality service through: Relationship managers, 24x7 customer service helpline to provide a range of services including pre-authorization, plan and payment related queries and claims information.

About Max Bupa Health Insurance
Max Bupa Health Insurance is a 74:26 joint venture between Max India Limited, a multi-business corporate with expertise in life insurance and health care and Bupa, a leading international healthcare provider with 65 years of healthcare knowledge. Max Bupa brings together a combination of Bupa’s global health insurance expertise and customer service expertise with Max India’s understanding and experience of the Indian health and insurance sectors. Max Bupa offers quality health insurance services through a dedicated team of over 1000 people and its network of 19 offices across 12 cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi and Kolkata. Max Bupa offers individual and family oriented health insurance policies for Indians across all age groups. Through its philosophy of “Your Health First” Max Bupa’s mission is to help customer’s live healthier and more successful lives.

Strong Network of over 1100 hospitals
Max Bupa Health Insurance has a direct working relationship with a network over 1100 top quality hospitals and healthcare providers and at the same time the company plans to extend its network of hospitals to other parts of the country. Max Bupa at present services customers directly without third party involvement, through an in-house team of relationship managers and also has a 24/7 health line for easy and friendly access to health advice. For more details about the company and a list of all our network hospitals please visit www.maxbupa.com.

About Max India: A reputation for excellence
The Max India Group brings expertise in Life Insurance and Healthcare with a strong presence in Life Insurance (Max New York Life Insurance Company Limited), Healthcare (Max Healthcare Institute Ltd.) and Clinical Research (Max Neeman Medical International Limited). A Rs 7,891 crore group, it has over 500 offices across India, about 57,000 people, all focused on delivering value to its 4.4 million customers.

About Bupa: 65 years of Health and Care
Bupa’s purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives. Established in 1947, it has over 11.3 million customers in more than 190 countries. Employing over 52,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America. A leading international healthcare group, Bupa offers personal and company health insurance, runs care homes for older people and hospitals, and provides workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare. With no shareholders, Bupa invests its profits to provide more and better healthcare and is committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease management and ageing.