Saif Ali Khan Stabbing Case: The Association of Medical Consultants (AMC), a group of 14,000 professionals, called out the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) over the “quick” sanction of Rs 25 lakh for cashless treatment of actor Saif Ali Khan at Lilavati Hospital in Bandra last week.
Terming it as “preferential treatment” for celebrities, AMC noted that the claim was sanctioned within hours, which is not the normal scenario in most of the cases for common policyholders.
Health insurance expert Nikhil Jha shared AMC’s concerns, highlighting systemic inequality in claim approvals. “If this were any normal person, the company would have applied reasonable and customary charges and not paid the claim,” Jha said.
He added that preferential treatment being given to high-profile people raises critical questions about fairness and equality in the health system.
“The Insurance company sanctioned 25 lakhs within a few hours to Lilavati Hospital for the treatment of Saif Ali Khan. The normal process is to ask for an FIR copy in medicolegal cases. The insurance company waived this requirement and immediately approved the cashless request for 25 lakhs,” Jha said in an X post.
AMC’s Letter To IRDAI
According to the AMC letter, Khan’s insurance claim “highlights a troubling trend where celebrities and high-profile individuals and patients with corporate policies receive favourable terms and higher cashless treatment limits, while ordinary citizens struggle with insufficient coverage and low reimbursement rates.”
Such practices create an unfair disparity and undermine the principle of equitable healthcare access, the letter added.
Dr Sudhir Naik, who heads AMC’s medico-legal cell, said, “We are not against corporate hospitals or celebrities, we want the same treatment for the ordinary patients patronising nursing homes.”
Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was rushed to the Lilavati hospital on January 16 after being stabbed by an intruder at his Bandra residence. The attacker, identified as Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, was arrested from Thane after three days of intense manhunt.
