Arti Nagraj, Chennai: There is some good news for HIV positive people in the country.

An insurance company has introduced the first ever policy for them. The scheme, recently launched by the Star Health insurance, is welcome change for HIV-positive people, who were not covered by insurance firms so far.

“It is happy news. But it should be accessible to people at more levels so that it can be more useful to the HIV-affected people,” says head of Positive Women Network, Kousalya. Kousalya has reasons to be wary because the scheme comes with some conditions.

First, it is a group insurance scheme where a minimum of 300 people are required to take it up. So, the policy is offered only to NGOs or government bodies.

Individuals can't apply. Second, the CD4 count, which indicates how strong a body's immune system is, has to be above 350.

But what prompted the insurance company to come up with this scheme?

“When this particular group who are registered, identified and are being constantly monitored, why should they be differentiated? That's why we are giving this mediclaim policy,” says MD, Star Health and Allied Insurance, V Jagannathan.

Though NGOs welcome it, they are skeptical about the conditions. “It is a good initiative but it has to be pilot tested and modified,” says President, SAATHII, Sai Subhashree Raghavan.

While it is a positive step that this insurance agency has taken, it remains to be seen how feasible it will be and how many people it will be able to reach out to.