Page 33 - Insurance Times April 2019

11th FICCI Health Insurance Conference

Health Insurance 2.0: Enabling Change

T he eleventh edition of the annual FICCI Health The impact is not only on the industry, but also on the

Insurance Conference recently concluded on
consumer behaviour, his attention span, preferred mode of
11th March 2019 at New Delhi. The central
communication or access to information. Further, health
theme for this year's Conference was'Health
creativity and innovation, with their cost-effective solutions
Insurance 2.0: Enabling Change'. Dr Subhash C tech start-ups have proven to be a game-changer, through
Kuntia, Chairman, IRDAI inaugurated the conference in the to deliver health service to consumers home. Thus, making
august presence of Dr Indu Bhushan, CEO - National Health the industry undergo a major race to adapt to these digital
Authority; Secretary - Government of India along with other changes and win the customer with new and better
key government and industry stalwarts. offerings. The health insurance industry is also witnessing
some significant structural changes, like 27 new age start-
The one-day conference was attended by over 200 delegates
ups and organization getting a license to start their
and brought together various stakeholders of the health
operations.
insurance ecosystem encompassing health insurers,
government officials, policy makers, academicians, Contributing on these lines, the Regulator is also working
representatives of embassies and multilateral agencies, all on enabling the adoption of technological developments
under one roof. It also provided an interactive platform for into the products offered by insurance companies. At the
policy deliberations by eminent speakers drawn from both same time, with the launch of Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan
Government as well as Industry. Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, world's largest government
funded health financing scheme, the health insurance
Discussions during the conference were centred around key
change enablers for the health insurance industry as well sector is set to face a paradigm shift.
as the regulatory roadmap in Health insurance 2.0 Hence, the industry today is at the cusp, where the
landscape. Ways to embrace the digital transformation in traditional existing giants are exploring how to embrace this
the sector, with the use of new technologies such as AI and shift with swiftness and agility of the new age start-ups.
Big Data and their impact on the industry as well as on the There is an urgent need to create an ecosystem where all
consumer behaviour were discussed. The conference these players can co-exist and deliver a stronger value
focused on healthcare start-ups that have proven to be a proposition to the end user.
game-changer through creativity and innovation and the
The inaugural session witnessed Keynote Address by Dr Indu
need for creating an ecosystem where traditional companies
Bhushan, CEO, National Health Authority; Secretary,
can collaborate and co-exists with these new age start-ups Government of India who gave an outline of the Ayushman
and deliver a stronger value proposition to the end user. Bharat scheme and the way forward to achieve Universal
'Health Insurance 2.0: Enabling Change' Health Coverage. He further emphasised the need for joint
efforts of Public and Private companies along with
Digital transformation has revolutionizing every aspect of
our lives in the past few years. Health insurance sector, the Government and the Regulator for the successful
fastest growing non-life insurance sector in the country, is implementation of Universal Health Coverage in India.
already at a fast-track with the use of digital technologies. Dr Subhash C Khuntia, Chairman, IRDAI in his inaugural
Whether it is discovery and comparison of products, or address mentioned the importance of Health and Education
distribution and after sales, we are adopting technology like in the modern society. He spoke about the need of
never before. standardization of rates in the health insurance industry and

The Insurance Times, April 2019 33