India wants comprehensive health insurance plans to be future ready - to fight unforeseen medical emergencies: Max Bupa Covid-19 survey

Max Bupa, one of India’s leading standalone health insurers has released a Covid-19 survey that highlights the impact of the novel coronavirus disease on the behavioral patterns of people towards Health Insurance. The research which was conducted across 11 markets including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune, Patna, Jaipur and Chandigarh in the pre and during Covid-19 period, throws light on how coronavirus has brought changes in the mindset of people, triggers of purchase and expectations from health insurance.

Covid-19 has brought a paradigm shift in people’s mindset 

The Max Bupa Covid-19 survey highlights that coronavirus has led to an increased awareness amongst people about the importance and benefits of health insurance during a pandemic situation like Covid-19. There has been a remarkable shift in the mindset of people before and after Covid-19, as earlier only 10% people were interested in purchasing Health insurance to protect against new-age diseases and medical emergencies and now 71% of respondents consider health insurance as a necessity in being more prepared to fight unforeseen pandemic like Covid-19. With the increasing number of incidences in the country and inflating medical costs, people have become more concerned and inquisitive about Coronavirus coverage in health insurance plans. Around 58% of the respondents said to have made enquiries to understand coronavirus coverage in existing and intended health covers. The Max Bupa Covid-19 survey also found that 73% of the respondents are willing to pay more premium in the next 1-2 months to get coverage for Covid-19. Though, knowledge of health insurance is still limited in both owners and intenders and many people are not clear about policy benefits. 

Increase in medical expenses is one of the biggest concerns people have today, with 59% respondents saying medical expenses have increased exorbitantly in the last few years. It is put ahead of other important expenses like children’s education and marriage, retirement corpus and wellbeing of family members. In the pre Covid-19 period, 60% of the respondents cited delaying health insurance purchase to prioritize household expenditure, while the others prioritized kids’ education and household products including gadgets and personal devices. 

The Max Bupa Covid-19 survey results further show that Financial loss has come out strongly as a major concern amongst people across all age segments. In the post Covid-19 period, Family members contracting the disease, Risk of job loss and Mental illness are the top three concerns in the minds of people. Further, the uncertainty around coronavirus treatment, high medical costs and quarantine period disrupting the income due to Covid-19 are the top reasons that are persuading people to purchase health insurance. Around 90% of people are said to believe that health insurance can play an important role in covering the hospitalization cost, followed by medical tests, medicines and quarantine cost. Around 73% respondents felt that there is steep rise in medical costs, which clearly indicates that health insurance can play an important role in financial protection. Therefore, 57% people understand the importance of comprehensive health insurance plans to cover any new-age and prevalent diseases. 

Commenting on the study, Anika Agarwal, Director - Direct Digital Business & Marketing, Max Bupa Health Insurance said, “We strongly stand by our customers in these testing times. We offer comprehensive hospitalization plans that cover the cost of COVID treatment. In addition to this, we also pay for personal protective equipment (PPE) upto a reasonable amount under all our plans. So far, we have received approximately 1700 COVID claims. Over 95% of all such claims have been prioritized and approved within 30 minutes on a cashless basis. We have also recently launched Corona Kavach, a standard COVID product for stipulated time-period ranging from 3.5 months to 9.5 months.”

She added, “Today, we are seeing a tectonic shift in the health insurance industry, with more and more people opting for comprehensive covers. We are seeing this growing awareness translating into purchase from all over the country, including Tier II & III markets. We have seen 22% growth in our overall business in the last 3 months, compared to the same period last year.”

Growing medical expenses driving people in metros and non-metros alike to buy health insurance  

The Max Bupa Covid-19 survey shows that metros and Tier II markets have shown similar concerns related to growing healthcare expenses. This has led to heightened awareness about the need for health insurance and people from cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, have enquired about health insurance coverage for Covid-19 treatment costs. People from Bangalore have been most proactive in gathering information about coronavirus coverage and about two-third of the people in Delhi are aware of coronavirus coverage in their current and intended health insurance policies. However, people in Hyderabad realized the importance of health insurance more strongly than other markets. The worry of family members contracting coronavirus is highest among Mumbai respondents, while risk of being jobless is highest amongst people in Delhi and Bangalore at 54% and 53% respectively, and lowest in Chennai at 38%. A high number of respondents in Mumbai want health insurance to cover the quarantine cost at 73% and all respondents in Hyderabad expect health insurance to cover medical tests related to coronavirus. 

It was found in the Max Bupa Covid-19 study that cities like Pune, Lucknow, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Chennai have cited growing medical expenses as key concern for consumers. A very high number of respondents in Lucknow, Chennai and Pune showed concerns about their own and family members’ health expenses. Further, the Max Bupa Covid-19 survey revealed that awareness and understanding of health insurance is very trivial across markets, particularly Kolkata, Patna, and Chennai. Pune emerged as an evolved market while awareness in Kolkata is minimal, and people in Lucknow & Patna seemed to be not fully aware about health insurance benefits and policy details. In the pre-Covid-19 period, 73% of people were interested in buying health insurance to guard against critical diseases, 53% people for protection against regular diseases, and 28% people to save tax. However, in current times people are prioritizing health insurance purchase for protection against Covid-19.

Women are now at the forefront taking financial decisions

The Max Bupa Covid-19 survey insights highlight that women who are generally not vocal about financial decision making emerged as strong advocates of health insurance. This trend was more prominently visible across key cities including Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Lucknow where women were taking financial decisions related to health insurance purchase. The Max Bupa Covid-19 survey results further show that when coronavirus emerged, around 62% of females enquired about the coverage of Covid-19 in health plans, as against 54% males. It was found that 28% of women as against 21% men made an enquiry about health insurance at an early stage, when coronavirus case was first detected in India. Around 72% women as compared to 62% men, have expressed their concern about their spouse and children’s health. It was found that men are experiencing higher mental frustration and anxiety than women as females have been doing more work at home and thus, lesser time to get anxious. For about 96% women respondents, hospitalization expenses related to coronavirus is a key expectation from health insurance plans.

Interestingly, prior to Covid-19 pandemic, 43% of women stated new-age diseases as a major reason for buying health insurance, in comparison to 38% male respondents. With the spread of the pandemic, the concern has increased further and remains significantly higher at 59% among women, as compared to men which is 53%.

Millennials have become serious about health insurance

Millennials (age group of 27-35) emerged as an important segment who were curious to understand health coverage for Covid-19. Around 63% of this age group made enquiries for health insurance and 59% enquired at an early stage when coronavirus case was first detected in India. This is an interesting trend as millennials are otherwise not concerned about health insurance, but due to coronavirus they are now keen to buy health insurance to save medical costs. A high number of millennials, about 57% said that it is important to have health insurance that covers new age diseases, and 72% are willing to pay more for Covid-19 coverage and planning to purchase health insurance immediately i.e. in the next 1-2 months. It is important to note that prior to the pandemic, a very low proportion of millennials, around 37% saw new-age diseases and medical emergencies as the reason to purchase health insurance. 

About Max Bupa

Max Bupa, a leading standalone health insurance player in India, is a joint venture between True North, a leading Indian private equity firm and the Bupa Group, a leading international healthcare company with a legacy of providing specialized healthcare services for over 70 years. Our mission is to help our customers live healthier and more successful lives by providing expertise as their healthcare partners. 

Source: Press Release