20-08-2020
Big gap in health insurance coverage, says IRDAI member non-life
Insurance AlertssBig gap in health insurance coverage, says IRDAI member non-life
Even as 2.77 million Indians have tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19) so far, only 1,25,000 health insurance claims have been filed as of August 12 said T L Alamelu, member, non-life at Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
Speaking at the FICCI Health Insurance Conference, Alamelu said that there is a big gap as far as health insurance coverage is concerned.
"We have almost 96 percent people who have not claimed any health insurance under COVID-19. Having a minimal health insurance cover with exclusions is atleast better than having no medical cover," she added.
If you take into account the 2.77 million Indians affected by COVID-19 and 1,25,000 health claims filed, this shows that only 4.5 percent of these individuals are covered. However, there is a rise in awareness as far as health insurance is concerned. Alamelu explained that there have been 131 new health products between March and now.
"The industry had a constant 500 number as far as health insurance is concerned, for close to two decades. Now after the lockdown, IRDAI has approved 131 new products. We are also at a fast-forward stage," she said.
General insurers have also launched specific health insurance products to cater to Coronavirus. The standard products called Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak. Alamelu said that as of August 14, a total of 7,50,000 policies covering 1.28 million lives have been bought under Corona Kavach. The premium collected was Rs 215 crore.
Under the Corona Rakshak policy that is a benefit-based health plan, insurers were able to sell 1,83,000 policies covering 2,17,000 lives and collected premium of Rs 29 crore.
"Corona Kavach is popular and we have noticed that most of the policyholders have opted for the 9.5 month cover duration," she added. These COVID-19 specific plans have 9.5 months as the maximum policy duration. However, when it comes to Arogya Sanjeevani which is a standard health plan launched in April 2020, Alamelu said that policy sales have been muted. So far, she said 72,000 policies worth Rs 33 crore premium have been sold under Arogya Sanjeevani.
Going forward, Alamelu said that there is a need to re-think the way health insurance is sold and to ensure that the product creates more value for customers. "Insurers could look at blending wellness with health insurance. For example, someone who has diabetes could be offered a health plan with a wellness element so that the policyholders are also motivated to stay fit," she said.
In the next few weeks, she added that IRDAI will also be announcing the next tranche of insurance products under the sandbox regime. Under the sandbox method, entities can launch and test a product with a select group of people for a period of six months.
Alamelu said that the next phase of innovation in health insurance would come from areas like artificial intelligence.
Source: Money Control
