By IndiaHub 
“After intense discussion, there was broad agreement on all the issues. The Bajaj Allianz agreed to submit para-vice formal actions to AHPI by 29th September 2025”, the circular noted.
AHPI (Association of Healthcare Providers in India) yesterday met with senior representatives of the general insurer to discuss the impending cashless claim settlement suspension, as AHPI had threatened them with, across all their member hospitals in north India, effective September 1, 2025.
Commenting on the matter, Dr. Girdhar Gyani, Director General of AHPI, said, “Our goal is to engage in constructive dialogue with the insurers to resolve issues in the larger interest of patients. We urge all the insurers to work in partnership with hospitals and restore cashless services at member hospitals, as the disruption is placing an unfair financial and emotional burden on patients. They also need to engage with the member hospitals regularly to revise outdated rates, set up transparent grievance mechanisms, and respect clinical autonomy”.
“In view of the discussions, Bajaj Allianz agreed to this and has restored cashless services with member hospitals”, said the circular.
As for Care Health Insurance, Dr Gyani claimed that its cashless services had not been suspended earlier. “We had not suspended the services for Care. We had only asked for an explanation, and they have submitted the reply. We are going through it now,” he said.
On 22 August, AHPI had advised its member hospitals in North India to suspend cashless services for policyholders of Bajaj Allianz and Care Health starting 1 September. The association had listed various unresolved issues, including outdated, delayed payments, claim denials, unilateral deductions, and lengthy pre-authorisation and discharge processes, among others.
Reacting to this development, the General Insurance Council (GIC) issued a release claiming AHPI’s decision as “arbitrary, lacking clarity or actionable details.”
Earlier, Tapan Singhel, Bajaj Allianz MD & CEO, had said, ‘We have always stood for what’s good for the citizens of our country, and no undue pressure will buckle us down, and none of our customers will suffer. As of now, we have not received a single case of denial of cashless service, but even if we do, we shall ensure that our customer gets the money in his/her account before they have to pay the hospital.”
Care had also earlier assured its policyholders that services would not be impacted. “Please rest assured that valued customers of Care Health Insurance will always receive seamless cashless services at all our network hospitals. We continue to work closely with each one of our partner hospitals to ensure our customers experience the quality care they deserve,” said Manish Dodeja, Chief Operating Officer, Care Health Insurance.
ET Wealth exclusively saw a copy of the agenda for the meeting yesterday, which had multiple issues, such as new hospital empanelment, rate revision, etc., listed for discussion. The AHPI team is also meeting officials from GIC (General Insurance Council) on September 3, 2025, Dr Gyani said.
What were AHPI’s allegations against Bajaj Allianz General Insurance?
As per AHPI, Bajaj Allianz has not revised rates for many years, “leading to undue financial stress on the hospitals. Hence, AHPI members have been informed that unless they reduce rates, cashless services will be stopped”.
Per the AHPI agenda, “During cashless authorisation, certain items like implants are left open. However, when the bill is presented, even for implants with reputed manufacturers, the cost is disputed, and deductions are made for the differential cost”.
It also added that Bajaj Allianz has been delaying the empanelment of new hospitals.
“Endless discussions and commercial negotiations lead to unacceptable delays stretching into months, even years”, it noted..
Bajaj Allianz has also been reportedly disputing payments related to new medical technologies, such as robotics and new-age cancer drugs, along with frequently questioning the clinical decisions of the treating doctors, which may not be in the interest of the patient.
“AHPI member hospitals face deductions at the time of payments and settlements. These are unexpected and often unjustified. Moreover, there is also no grievance mechanism in place with time-bound resolutions.”
In addition to this, as the AHPI agenda noted, Bajaj Allianz often issues pre-authorisations stipulating that hospitals cannot charge patients with consumables, etc. However, the insurer is unwilling to pay for this themselves as well.
Days ago, the GIC publicly denounced AHPI’s unilateral approach to this matter. In its press statement, GIC urged AHPI to immediately withdraw the advice to its members and ask them to “engage constructively with the insurance companies by continuing cashless services for all health insurance policyholders”.
However, the Chairman of the General Insurance Council is Mr. Tapan Kumar Singhel, who is also the Managing Director and CEO of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited.
As per IRDAI’s Handbook on Indian Insurance Statistics, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd had a claim settlement ratio of 95.99% during 2023-24, broadly implying that the insurer honors approximately 95.99 out of every 100 claims that come their way.
Will the cashless claim suspension on CARE Health Insurance come into effect from September?
Dr. Gyani explained that AHPI also had a favorable conversation with CARE Health and that AHPI member hospitals will not be implementing the suspension of their cashless claim processing across North India with the standalone health insurer from next month. During FY2023-24, CARE Health had a 92.77% claim settlement ratio.