Page 12 - Insurance Times March 2023

India's retail health insur-
Spread Covid awareness: IRDAI to insurers
ance market can give 20% IRDAI has asked insurance companies to reach out to people to increase
awareness, given the resurgence of coronavirus in some parts of the world.
RoE annually
India's retail health insurance sector Insurance companies said that the regulator had asked them to run cam-
has the potential to give a 20% yearly paigns to communicate the importance of precautionary measures like wear-
return on equity (RoE), according to a ing masks and getting vaccinated. IRDAI has also asked companies to push
report by Avendus Capital, even as the sales of health insurance plans, including the 'Corona Kavach', which was
designed to cover the risk of Covid infection.
sector has seen a surge in demand fu-
elled by a rise in policy purchases by Last financial year, life insurers settled nearly 2.3 lakh death claims arising out
families and individuals post covid. of Covid in FY22 by paying out Rs 17,269 crore, and health insurers paid Rs
24,362 crore towards 26.5 lakh Covid claims. Overall in health insurance, com-
The retail health insurance segment
panies received 2.4 crore claims for Rs 93,840 crore during the year. Of this,
covers only health insurance policies
they paid out 2.2 crore claims for Rs 69,498 crore. They disallowed 15% of the
that are bought by individuals or fami-
claims as per the terms of the policy and repudiated 9% of the claims by value.
lies.
The report, "Retail Health Insurance: Industry persons said that the regulator had reached out to insurance com-
A Large Whitespace," has also forecast panies and intermediaries. "This is only to increase awareness. There is no
a market size of $25 billion for this indication either from the companies or the government that the number of
space by FY27, a 5.3x jump from the cases is going up," said a senior executive in the non-life company.
$4 billion recorded in FY22.
study said, adding that these compa- acted as a strong catalyst. Given that
"In India, the health retail health insur-
nies have received significant interest the distribution of retail health is pri-
ance segment is currently dominated
from global and domestic investors marily individual agent driven, SAHIs'
by five standard health insurers
alike in the past. single product focus and distribution
(SAHIs): Religare-led Care Health Insur-
arbitrage over multi-line insurers pro-
ance, Niva (Max) Bupa Health Insur- For instance, last year, Aditya Birla
vide them with a competitive advan-
ance, Aditya Birla Health Insurance, Health Insurance bagged Rs. 665 crore
tage," said Snigdha Khemka, director
Star Health and Allied Insurance and from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
- consumer, financial institutions group
ManipalCigna Health Insurance," the (ADIA) while Religare Enterprises Ltd
(FIG) and business services, Avendus
report by the investment banking firm was in the process of raising Rs. 300 for Capital.
further noted. Care Health Insurance via a rights is-
For investors, retail health insurance
sue.
These entities have disrupted the mar- will continue to be one of the most
ket to capture over 50% share and are "SAHIs have established a presence in exciting segments within the overall
expected to be the biggest beneficia- the retail health segment. Awareness non-life insurance or general insurance
ries of growth within the segment, the of health insurance post-Covid has space.
10 March 2023 The Insurance Times