Page 33 - The Insurance Times October 2021

premium, 105 per cent of all premiums paid until death and premium is too heavy on their pockets. Here's a look at the
the absolute amount assured to be paid on the policyholder's major developments in the health insurance segment.
death. For single premium policies, the death benefit to be
paid out is the higher of 125 per cent single premium and The regulator rolled out a standard health product - Aarogya
absolute amount assured to be paid on death. Insurers are Sanjeevani, under which 1.65 lakh lives have been covered.
permitted to offer two riders - accident and permanent Similarly, on July 10, the regulator launched two standard
disability benefit options - for additional premium. The cover corona products - Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak --
has come with a waiting period of 45 days from policy which have covered around 32 lakh lives, with a premium
issuance - only death claim due to accident is payable during collection of Rs 482 crore and with a sum insured of Rs 1.1
this period. In case the death occurred due to other reasons, trillion. To offer uniform coverage benefits under a single
100 per cent of the premium, excluding taxes, if any, is paid plan. The policy allows coverage of up to INR 5 lakhs and
out to the dependents. The uniformity in features and policy has uniform coverage benefits across insurers. Only the
wordings aid easy purchase of term plans. The private life premium differs based on the company's pricing policies.
insurance industry is celebrating 20 years in India this year.
The Arogya Sanjeevani policy, therefore, offers standardized
Health insurance segment coverage for someone looking for a basic health cover. The
pandemic has increased the potential for health and life
Health is wealth is no longer an adage, but our new reality.
insurance in India The improved prospects for insurance are
This needs to be accepted and by implementing the
also reflected in the performance of non-life during the first
standardized products, the insurance industry would be
ready to deal with future pandemics, improve customer quarter. Non-life insurers have registered a 14% growth in
gross premium during the first quarter as demand for health
satisfaction and ensure efficiency of firms assuring that no
insurance increased during the deadly second wave of Covid.
pandemic in the future affects lives as Coronavirus did. In
The increase in insurance penetration bodes well for the
the health sector, some 36 per cent people are insured but
of these, three-fourths are insured by government schemes government's disinvestment programme. India ranks 10th
in life insurance and 14th in non-life. Despite the insurance
and the remaining 3.2 per cent have got individual health
market being small relative to GDP, it is seen as having huge
plans. An additional 5.4 per cent have got group health.
potential.
So, almost 62 per cent of the total health expenditure is out-
of-pocket. Furthermore, only 0.9 per cent of houses are
insured whereas in the US, more than 90 per cent of
dwelling units enjoy cover. Once the customers are able to
apprehend the product and its offerings, it builds a trust
factor in them towards the insurer. For customers, the first
go-to person must be the insurer in order to gain relevant
and right information regarding any insurance product. The
health insurance segment saw the launch of standardized
insurance plans and policy clauses.

To ease up OPD consultations during the pandemic, IRDAI
also asked insurers to include coverage for telemedicine if
the plan allowed OPD coverage. This made health plans
more inclusive in their scope and also allowed policyholders
to avail of digitized treatments without the risk of infection. Understanding the need of coverage against Covid, the
IRDAI introduced two standard Covid -oriented plans -
To increase health insurance penetration and to make health Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak. While the former is an
plans affordable, the concept of instalment premium was indemnity oriented policy without deductibles or limits, the
launched. Now, policyholders can opt to pay premiums in latter is a fixed benefit plan that pays the sum insured in
monthly, quarterly or half-yearly instalments if the annual lump sum in case of hospitalisation for 72 hours or more due

The Insurance Times, October 2021 33