Page 22 - Insurance Times April 2017 Special Issue on Newindia

ance enrolment, beneficiary identification, claim processing, Hence, in general, in most markets, the premium increase
hospital reimbursement, E-KYC will ensure a paperless, cash- trend follows the medical cost increase trend of the mar-
less, interoperable, secure, healthcare ecosystem in the ket. Medical cost inflation generally is slightly higher than
country, and ultimately help in the growth in the health the consumer price index inflation in most countries. For
insurance sector. The Unique Identification (UID) of stake- India too, a similar trend is likely to continue which will lead
holders within healthcare ecosystem such as providers, di- to insurance premium cost increase at a similar level. The
agnostic centres and doctors will play a critical role in the move to sell insurance through ecommerce platforms is a
growth of digitisation of health insurance in India. welcoming initiative by IRDA which will open up new av-
enues and growth opportunities.
Digitisation presents many opportunities for health insurers.
For instance, it helps in expanding reach, improves market Health insurance is an important component of the
share, and helps in providing additional value to customers. healthcare delivery ecosystem wherein digitisation becomes
In India, insurers have taken steps to incorporate digitisation mandatory for enhancing the overall patient care and ex-
into their business models, but adoption has been sluggish perience. At present only one-fifth of the population is cov-
due to many challenges in the path. ered with some form of health insurance. This suggests that
huge potential for growth is available for the healthcare
Growth Drivers: insurance industry.

The retail sub-segment is expected to grow at a robust pace
Digitisation presents many opportunities for health insurers.
driven by increased penetration in Tier-II and Tier-III cities,
For instance, it helps in expanding reach, improves market
substitution of out-of-pocket expenditure by health insur-
share, and helps in providing additional value to customers.
ance spends, increasing urbanisation, demographic shifts
Most of the digital initiatives across health insurance mar-
and medical inflation. With increase in the maturity of the
ket are being undertaken across sales and marketing and
market, this segment is expected to see innovative prod-
policy administration as it requires low degree of support
ucts being offered by insurers like wellness management,
from stakeholders across the value chain. For example, in
managed healthcare etc.
online sale of policies, other stakeholders like providers,
doctors and TPAs have minimal involvement. However,
This coupled with the government and the insurance indus-
cross stakeholder collaboration would be critical in most of
tries' thrust towards awareness, increased penetration and
the other initiatives to drive digitisation across health
preventive care, this segment is to grow at a robust pace.
insurance.
Insurers need to offer the right product, quick service at the
right price and deliver what is unexpected. Due to rising
Effort should be to draw out a realistic phase-wise approach
medical treatment costs, it is very unlikely that the premium
wherein all stakeholders could collaborate to counter the
rates will come down. Insurance products provide coverage
challenges faced and implement innovative technologies to
for medical treatment cost.
create a strong digital healthcare ecosystem for India.
Health Insurance has been witnessing a rapid expansion and
has significant growth potential for the future as well. While
multiple factors drive this growth, innovation in health in-
surance products would be a significant factor.

References:
1. IRDA Annual Report 2015-16
2. http://www.business-standard.com/article
3. Universal Health Coverage Study Series (UNICO)
4. Report Apollo Munich Health Insurance.
5. Cigna 360 Well-being report,
6. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com
7. Newspapers & Journals

22 The Insurance Times, April 2017

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