Date:- June 2026

Common Empanelment Initiative – Focus and Guiding Principles

The Common Empanelment Programme implemented by the GI Council is primarily designed to expand the network of small and medium hospitals, particularly in tier-II, tier-III cities, rural areas, and suburban locations.

The core objective of this initiative is to support greater health insurance penetration across the country. As health insurance reaches underserved regions, policyholders should have access to nearby hospitals offering cashless treatment through a single empanelment process. This can enhance confidence in purchasing health insurance and provide financial protection during medical emergencies.

The guiding principles of the programme are as follows:

• The initial focus shall remain on empanelling small and medium hospitals that cater to local communities.
• A base tariff has been developed based on the prevailing reimbursement levels already accepted by the general insurance industry.
• The base tariff may be revised within a reasonable range after considering the hospital's infrastructure, clinical capabilities, quality standards, accreditation, and other objective parameters.
• However, where a hospital seeks package rates that are substantially higher, such applications may be kept on hold for review at a later stage.
• The empanelment of these hospitals can be revisited after the IRDAI–CII initiative issues its proposed guidelines on hospital categorisation, quality benchmarks, and tariff rationalisation.

 At this stage, our collective efforts should remain focused on creating a robust cashless network of small and medium hospitals, thereby improving healthcare accessibility and enabling more people in rural and semi-urban India to purchase health insurance with confidence