The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Retired teachers hit hard by hike in insurance premiums

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Monday, Jul 07, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Retired teachers hit hard by hike in insurance premiums

Sruthi Krishnan

Vidya Mandir’s alumni association has a group healthcare policy

CHENNAI: The hike in group healthcare premiums this year is impacting a scheme run by Vidya Mandir’s alumni association for retired teachers. The alumni pay the premiums for a group healthcare policy which benefits long-serving staff of the school.

This idea took shape during the Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2005. The coordinator of the alumni association, M Sandeep, a surgeon, is aware of rising medical costs. “I often see how difficult it is for the elderly who don’t have any health cover,” he says.

Given the current scenario, the alumni decided to start a scheme to provide ageing teachers proper healthcare.

Today 80 persons and their spouses are covered. With premiums going up by 40 to 50 per cent this year, more funds are required, he says.

“It is a very thoughtful gesture,” says Tara Satyanarayana, who started as a teacher in 1956 and retired as principal in 1988. Pension schemes were started after her retirement and the provident fund is insufficient for medical expenses, she says.

Vimala Sivaraman, a Physical Education teacher for 25 years, echoes her views. The policy covered all the costs of her eye operation.

She says that with her husband’s pension and her savings, managing everyday medical expenses itself is quite a stretch. Those who have worked for more than 10 years in the school are covered, says Dr. Sandeep. Typically, they won’t have health insurance and to get a fresh policy at their age is difficult.

A case in point is D. Subramanian who worked as a bus conductor in the school for 20 years. No one took medical insurance those days, says Mr. Subramanian. When he suffered a heart attack in December 2007, the surgery cost Rs. 2 lakh. The Rs. 50,000 provided by the policy for hospitalisation charges, partially covered his expenses.

Usually, associations establish corpus funds for such schemes, says Dr. Sandeep. Whenever someone wants help, funds are disbursed.

The group insurance policy is a smarter choice because of two reasons, he says. The corpus depletes every time someone is given aid. There is no such issue with insurance as the amount insured is guaranteed.

The association managing the fund also has to monitor and take care of requests. In case of a group policy, the insurance company manages everything.

A premium of Rs. 1.3 lakh a year used to cover 80 people. So, 130 ex-students giving Rs. 1,000 a year proved sufficient, says Dr. Sandeep. To tackle the increase in premiums, the association plans to set up a cash remittance facility online so that people abroad can contribute.

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