“Systemic betrayal” of Health Insurance: Angel Investor Slams Insurance Firms After Niva Bupa Denies ₹61 Lakh Claim
“Systemic betrayal” of Health Insurance: Angel Investor Slams Insurance Firms After Niva Bupa Denies ₹61 Lakh Claim
Family with ₹2.4 crore health cover left stranded after insurer allegedly refused cashless approval for life-saving bone marrow transplant.
A shocking case of insurance claim denial has sparked outrage on social media after Niva Bupa Health Insurance allegedly refused a ₹61.6 lakh claim for a patient undergoing treatment for Myeloid Leukaemia at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai.
Angel investor Udit Goenka, reacting to the incident, described health insurance as the “biggest scam business in India.” Sharing the case on X, he said that families pay premiums for years only to be abandoned when they need help the most.
According to a LinkedIn post highlighting the ordeal, the patient’s family held a medical insurance policy worth ₹2.4 crore — ₹1 crore as base cover and an additional ₹1.4 crore as no-claim bonus. Ahead of the patient’s hospitalisation on July 4, Niva Bupa had reportedly given written confirmation for a ₹25 lakh Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) package, terming it final and all-inclusive. However, when the actual hospitalisation cost crossed the estimate, the insurer allegedly denied cashless approval, citing that “liability cannot be established.”
“Same patient. Same treatment. Same procedure. Same policy. But now the family is being forced to arrange ₹61 lakh in cash, during a life-threatening emergency,” the LinkedIn post alleged, calling it a “systemic betrayal” of health insurance.
The post also stressed that families purchase policies for protection during such crises, not to be abandoned in their darkest hour. “Health insurance cannot become a game of wordplay and escape clauses. When lives are at stake, dignity, compassion, and fairness must come first,” it said.
