IRAO Health Insurance: 8 Pulse Plans, Terms and Reviews

The company was registered in Georgia on 12 March 2004 and became a joint-stock company in 2015. Its sole owner is the Austrian ATBIH GmbH, part of the VIG group: the insurer has been in the group since the 2000s and wholly owned since 2011.

Key dates in IRAO's history

1. 2004 — the company is founded as an LLC and opens its first service centre in Tbilisi.
2. 2010–2019 — service centres open in Kutaisi (2010), Batumi (2011), Zugdidi, Telavi and Akhaltsikhe (2019).
3. 2011 — under a state programme, the company builds and equips 6 hospitals in the regions.
4. 2020–2021 — Pulse, an online portal for buying policies and a mobile app are launched.
5. 2026 — updated health policies with a personal manager, a rebrand, and new offices in Gori and Rustavi.

Company details: licences, registration code, owner

Its licences are valid: the company is listed in the register of insurers of the Insurance State Supervision Service of Georgia.

The company itself has no international rating; the VIG group is rated A+ by S&P.

Position in the health insurance market

According to the regulator, the insurer is 6th in Georgia by premiums, and its share is falling.

The claims ratio shows how much the company paid out in health insurance claims for every 100 ₾ of premiums received in the period (data from the Insurance State Supervision Service of Georgia).

As of 31 December 2025, the company met the regulator's capital requirements.

IRAO sells one health policy to individuals, Pulse: four plans built around a personal doctor and four with a “+” in the name that let you choose any clinic. For Georgian citizens they cost from 65 ₾ a month, rising with age.

Standard or Standard+: what is the difference?

Without the “+”, planned treatment is available only with a referral from your personal doctor and only at network clinics. With the “+”, you can go to any licensed clinic without a referral, pay yourself and claim reimbursement (clause 11.1.2).

With a referral, planned outpatient care is covered at 50, 65, 75 and 90% (from Standard to Premium); at Curatio and Raymann it is covered at 70–100% with no coverage exclusions, but only at the clinic named in your policy (Part 3, clause 11.1.3).

Discounts, renewal and cancellation

Paying for a full year in one go makes Pulse 3% cheaper (clause 6.2), and families of 4 or more get 3–8% off (clause 6.1). The policy renews automatically unless you cancel in writing 14 days before it ends (clause 3.4); a policy bought online can be returned within the first 14 days (clause 11.2).

The insurer may raise the remaining premiums if annual inflation exceeds 10% (clause 6.8) and change the terms if state healthcare programmes change (clause 4.1.12). If you refuse the new price, the contract ends and you pay an extra 20% of the full premium (clause 6.9).

Not online: online cover is only for Georgian citizens aged 0 to 66. For foreigners, the company issues a policy paid for a full year upfront.

The company does not publish prices for foreigners. Its website, online purchase and terms are in Georgian and English, not in Russian. The policy is valid only in Georgia (clause 2.14).

You can also get Pulse through us, including as an expat: choose IRAO in our plan finder, and a manager will send you a payment link. We also sell IRAO travel insurance.

No earlier than 14 days after your first payment, and emergency hospital treatment for illness only after a further 3 months. The premium is paid no later than 14 days before the insurance period begins (clause 6.3); until that date there is no policy yet, and it takes effect at 24:00 on the start date (clause 3.3).

We checked the waiting periods:

• emergency hospital treatment for illness, including cardiology and day hospital care: 3 months (clauses 7.1.2, 7.1.4, 7.1.5);
• diabetes and chronic kidney or liver failure: 6 months (until then, consultations only; clause 1.5), under the version of the terms that IRAO's online purchase leads to;
• planned inpatient and day hospital treatment and planned cardiology: 12 months (clauses 7.1.3–7.1.5);
• oncology: 12 months (clause 8), and tumours that existed before cover began are never paid for, even benign ones (clause 1.13);
• pregnancy, including complications, and childbirth: 12 months (clauses 9 and 10).

If the person was in hospital when the policy was taken out, that case is not covered (clause 2.3).

Each service has its own limit and percentage; there is no overall annual limit (Part 3). There is no deductible: you pay your share as a co-payment (clause 2.9).

• Emergency outpatient care is covered at 100% with no limit on every plan; CT and MRI scans during it come out of the planned outpatient care limit (clause 11.1.1).
• If a state programme pays for a service, the insurer covers only the insured person's share, except for pregnancy and childbirth (Part 2).

Standard and Premium limits in lari

Are dental care and pregnancy covered?

Yes, with limits: planned dental care is covered in part, and pregnancy and childbirth only after a 12-month waiting period.

• Emergency dental care: 100% (up to 1,000 ₾ on Standard); planned dental care: 50–80% at network dental clinics; implants and orthodontics: only discounts of 10–40% (Part 3, clause 13.1.3).
• Pregnancy and childbirth: antenatal care, complications, caesarean section (clauses 9 and 10).
• Under the version of the terms that IRAO's online purchase leads to, preparing teeth for prosthetics and implants (clause 1.20), IVF and infertility treatment (clause 1.10) are not covered.

What Pulse does not cover

Treatment abroad and at American Hospital Tbilisi (clauses 1.34, 1.35), as well as a number of conditions and services (Part 2 of the terms):

• hepatitis B and C (initial screening only), HIV, congenital defects (first consultation only); epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, sarcoidosis, mental disorders (clauses 1.4, 1.6–1.9);
• cosmetic treatment, alternative medicine, physiotherapy, rehabilitation (clauses 1.16, 1.17);
• professional sports, self-treatment, injuries from driving under the influence or from unlawful acts (clauses 1.1–1.3, 1.14);
• planned outpatient care without a referral on plans without the “+” (clause 1.36);
• dialysis, transplants, glasses, contact lenses, hearing aids (clauses 1.24, 1.26, 1.27).

One number covers everything, both the hotline and IRAO Assistance: +995 32 2 949 949.

1. Planned care. Book an appointment with your personal doctor in the app, in your online account or through IRAO Assistance (clause 3); the doctor will refer you to a network clinic, where you pay only your share.
2. Ambulance. Call the same number and an ambulance will be sent; show the crew your ID, and the care is free. If you call an ambulance yourself, you pay and then claim reimbursement (clause 4).
3. Emergencies. Report a hospital admission to the hotline within 48 hours, and a network clinic will be issued a guarantee letter; if you do not report it, you pay everything yourself, even there, and claim reimbursement (clause 7.2). Report emergency outpatient care within 24 hours (clause 11.1.1).
4. Planned hospital treatment. Form IV-100/a and a cost estimate are submitted 5 working days before treatment; the guarantee letter is issued within 1–2 working days (clause 7.3).
5. Medicines. With a referral, show your policy and ID at the pharmacy and pay your share (clause 12).
6. Reimbursement. Submit documents through your online account at online.irao.ge, the app or the drop box at an office, no later than 60 calendar days after the service. Claims up to 500 ₾ are paid within 1 working day, larger ones within 2, by bank transfer only.

You will need the doctor's document (Form IV-100/a), a receipt or bank statement, a cost estimate for hospital treatment and X-rays for dental care (Annex 1).

The current list is Part 5 of the Pulse terms (version of 20 August 2026): 295 addresses in about 60 towns and villages across Georgia.

It includes personal doctors' practices (6 in Tbilisi and 45 in the regions, many of them at the same clinics), 202 network clinics, 46 dental clinics, 3 ambulance services and 4 pharmacy chains; medicines on referral are dispensed at Aversi. The insurer may change the list (clause 4.1.8).

For addresses, see the list of IRAO clinics by city on 100doc.ge; the networks of different insurers are on the shared clinic map.

On Google Maps, the head office has 3.8 out of 5 from 80 ratings (18 October 2026): 53 five-star and 19 one-star. The company has not responded to any of them.

Recent ratings are below average: 3.1 for 2025 (9 ratings) and 3.0 for 2026 (12). Written reviews were left by 28 people. Complaints: refused or partial reimbursement (7 reviews), not being able to get through by phone (5), price and renewal (4). Customers praise the speed of replies, sign-up and payouts (5) and attentive staff and managers (5), but the latest praise for the health policy dates from 2023.

• Mariam Khizanishvili · 28 July 2023 · ★★★★★ 5 out of 5

  “Reimbursements come through the same day, within a few hours” (translated from Georgian).

• Ксюня Мяу · 12 March 2026 · ★★★★★ 1 out of 5

  “In your second year they can simply turn you down because you are an active user” (translated from Russian).

• Alina K · 5 August 2026 · ★★★★★ 1 out of 5

  “I suddenly discovered I have special conditions for the cost of an MRI because I'm not a resident of the country”.

All IRAO reviews on Google Maps

The hotline and IRAO Assistance share one number: +995 32 2 949 949. Phone consultations are available 24 hours a day (Annex 1, Part 1, clause 1).

Email: office@irao.ge; complaints: quality@irao.ge. The head office is at 88/15 Bochorishvili Street, Tbilisi, and the Batumi office at 31 Zubalashvili Street; both are open Monday to Friday, 10:00–18:00. The Kutaisi office is at 92 Tsereteli Street; there are also service centres in Gori, Rustavi, Zugdidi, Akhaltsikhe and Telavi, 8 offices in 8 cities in all.

Three steps: a complaint to the insurer, free mediation or the Insurance State Supervision Service, and only then court.

1. Complaint to the company: by phone, in writing, in your online account or on the company's Facebook page. The insurer starts looking into it within 2 working days and replies within 10, or within up to 30 calendar days in complex cases (the company's complaints procedure, sections 6 and 9); the Insurance State Supervision Service does not allow longer.
2. Dispute over the contract: the free Insurance Mediation service of the Georgian Insurance Association, tel. 2 55 51 55 (clause 10.1). If the company has not replied within 30 days or you are not satisfied with the reply, you can write to the Insurance State Supervision Service of Georgia. The Service checks whether the law has been broken, but does not resolve contractual disputes; those are decided by the courts.
3. Court: if mediation does not help (clause 10.2).

What sets IRAO apart: online sales only to Georgian citizens, and cover that starts no earlier than 14 days after payment. On Google (3.8) it is second of the five, but it has the fewest ratings.

Prices per the insurers' online calculators on 14–15 October 2026; rank by health insurance premiums for January–June 2026 (Insurance State Supervision Service of Georgia); Google ratings as of 18 October 2026. Insurers count clinics differently, by contract, name or address, so the numbers cannot be compared directly.