Page 11 - Insurance Times February 2023

Health Insurers hopes for
Universal health cover may bring down costs
better health infrastruc- India's uninsured population could get cover at Rs 2,000 for a sum insured
of Rs 5 lakh if universal health insurance were to be introduced in line with
ture to support growth
the schemes of some state governments.
The Covid pandemic brought with it
According to Bajaj Allianz CEO and CII National Committee on Insurance
greater awareness regarding the need
and Pension's chairman Tapan Singhel, such a scheme could help cover the
for health insurance boosting business
'missing middle' - the population not covered by any scheme for underprivi-
for such insurers in 2022 even as they
leged, individual health policies or employer's group insurance cover.
battled higher claims, technological
"There are existing models like the universal health insurance in Rajasthan,
disruptions and regulatory changes.
which can be made available to the entire state population," said Singhel.
Even as pandemic-related claims sub-
He added that the government could open up these schemes for subscrip-
sided in the second half of the year,
tions without any subsidy from the state, and the premium could be paid by
health insurers continued to witness
employers, including those in the unorganised sector.
elevated claims due to Covid -related
"One reason people slip below the poverty line is because of healthcare ex-
health issues, deferred surgeries and
penses they cannot pay. If such out-of pocket expenses could be covered, it
delayed chronic treatments.
would add around 1. 2% to GDP. "We already have the Prime Minister health
On the other hand, health insurance scheme for those below the poverty line, the average premium is much
sector also saw a greater technologi- lower compared to normal personal insurance cover," he said.
cal adoption with the use of
telemedicine and electronic health
higher premium collections as well," customised products for specific cus-
records. On the regulatory front, re-
said Satish Gidugu, CEO at Medi Assist. tomer segments, said Krishnan
forms pertained to enhancing access to
Ramachandran, MD and CEO of Niva
health insurance, inclusion of With greater emphasis on digitisation,
Bupa Health Insurance, adding it will
transgender people, and the addition advent of the Bima Sugam platform
also help address the ever-evolving
of mental illness and alternate thera- and shift in IRDAI's approach to more
health needs of customers.
pies to health covers. principle-based regulations, the focus
of the health insurance industry going
"The last two years fostered newer, Insurers want GST cut to
into 2023 is on improving the ease of
innovative health insurance offerings
doing business and product innovation. 5% on health cover
and products that included
telemedicine, diagnostics, etc. Custom- Some of the initiatives such as 'use and Reduction of GST on health cover to 5
ers also displayed a newfound interest file' will provide greater flexibility and percent, hike in 80D limit and tweak-
in health insurance, which resulted in encourage innovation to introduce ing of norms on pension/annuity prod-

10 January 2023 The Insurance Times