Health insurance coverage grew 69.8% in April-Sept, firms say pandemic increased awareness

New Delhi: Health insurance coverage saw a growth of 69.8 per cent in the months after the pandemic hit, the finance ministry informed the Lok Sabha Monday.

In his written reply to a question by Trinamool MP Mala Roy, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has “informed that the total number of lives covered under health insurance business (excluding Personal Accident & Travel Business) from 1.4.2020 to 30.9.2020 has been 30.22 Crore (provisional data) as compared to 17.83 Crore for the period from 1.4.2019 to 30.9.2019 showing a growth of 69.8%”.

A regulatory body under the finance ministry, the IRDAI monitors the insurance industry in the country. Thakur, however, said there has been “no abnormal increase in health insurance premium during the pandemic”.

‘Increase in awareness’

In 2019-2020, a total of 49.87 crore people had been insured. The minister didn’t provide a consolidated figure for 2020-2021. Insurance companies that ThePrint spoke to said the demand was driven by an increase in awareness triggered by the pandemic.

“In India, people rely on their own families and their own savings in case of emergency and hospitals. But because of Covid, that changed. People started thinking he or she is equally vulnerable, so what happened is because of this multiple people in the same family would get impacted,” Nikhil Apte, chief product officer, product factory (health insurance), Royal Sundaram General Insurance, told ThePrint.

Apte said his company had seen a higher uptake of their health insurance plan, Lifeline. “Overall, the parliamentary response is what we have seen in the industry across India, especially tier 2 towns…we have seen a higher growth in tier 2 towns than in the metros, which is a very positive part.” Mahavir Chopra, founder, Beshak.org, an independent insurance awareness platform, pointed out that the guidelines issued by the home ministry making it mandatory for employers to provide health insurance to their employees could be another reason for the higher uptake.

Following the April order, the IRDAI had also issued a circular that said, “…all General and Health Insurance companies may offer comprehensive health insurance policies either to individuals or groups in order to enable the listed organisations / employers / establishments comply with the above referred directions.”

Chopra said, “There was a surge in employee health insurance during this time. Many employees, especially working in essential services who were earlier not covered by their employer, benefited with a cover.” He, however, said insurance companies might face a challenge in retaining the corporate clients, and customers “who bought in panic”.

Dr. Bhabatosh Mishra, director-product, underwriting & claims, Max Bupa Health Insurance, noted that though there was a peak during the months after the pandemic hit, the trend didn’t sustain. “We are hopeful that many of those who purchased health insurance initially out of fear understand the importance of it as a risk mitigation tool against the ever-rising cost of medical care, and move to purchase more comprehensive insurance products,” he said.

Source: The Print

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