New Delhi, May 24: The Supreme Court has come to the rescue of senior citizens who are often refused renewal of their mediclaim policies even by public sector insurance firms only because they need frequent hospitalization, leading to higher reimbursement claims.

The court also frowned upon the practice of insurance companies seeking hefty hikes in the renewal premium a clear disincentive for elderly policy holders. Criticising insurance firms' insistence on excluding cover for some ailments which require hospitalization, the court asked public sector insurance companies not to follow their private sector counterparts in heartlessly turning down requests for renewal of policies just because their clients had to be hospitalized.

The Centre, through solicitor general G E Vahanvati, argued that the insurance sector had been opened up and such conditions relating to societal obligations on public sector players alone would put them in a position of disadvantage vis-a-vis private players.

Differentiating between public and private sector companies, a bench comprising Justices S B Sinha and V S Sirpurkar said the action of government-supported companies, which could be classified as 'state', must be fair and reasonable even in cases of renewal of mediclaim policies.

Observing that it would be unfair on the part of public sector companies to deny senior citizens their rights to hold a mediclaim policy, the court also took a dig at the government's catchy "Health for All" policy and the abysmal ground realities.