Page 67 - India Insurance Report 2023- BIMTECH

India Insurance Report - Series II 55

practices, it might be prudent to have a separate regulator for this purpose. This is also important since
the IRDAI is now mandating 100% cashless health claims and flexible plans for older people, etc.

 The increasing complexity of health risks driven by demographic shifts, lifestyle changes, ageing
population, etc., will push for product innovation in Health Insurance.

 Disease-specific covers like Diabetic Insurance, Heart Beat Policy, Cancer Insurance, Disease
Management and Wellness Insurance are drastically changing the Health Insurance Business Model.

 The need for Long-term Care Insurance will increase with the rising incidence of critical illness and
the ageing population.

4. Conclusion

Aside from presenting and analysing the business trends at the broader level, the following details
should also be kept in view by the policy makers: Emphasise and insist on Underwriting profits (sanctity
of Combined Ratios); line-wise by introducing line-wise RBC modelling as soon as possible – it is not a
good augury to keep the matter hanging for more than ten years; R&D must a strong element of IRDAI
supervision, as there is no R&D spending at the moment by the Industry; IRDAI must not be into ‘
insurance education’ or ‘education of risk management’ directly, but must ensure monitoring of risk
management by the insurers strongly. Since the insurance regulator has resolved for ‘Insurance for All by
2047, we must have strong self-regulatory organizations for the insurers, brokers, surveyors and insurtechs,
and the regulator to give a fillip to relatively newer business lines, monitor them separately, such as
Aviation / Oil and Energy / Liability / Trade Credit and political risks etc. rather than bunching them
together as ‘miscellaneous’ class. The path to 2030 and 2047 requires an expanded script and fresh tools.

Further, as discussed earlier, the following key factors have been impacting the industry and also
have immense potential in shaping the future trend of the general insurance industry to drive growth
and the resulting sustainability in the years to come.

a) Change of Profile of insurance buyers given sustained awareness drive induced by the COVID.

b) The changing profile will demand more customized products.

c) As our prediction hints, more capital needed to be infused, which would help augment the expansion
of the insurance business and increase the insurance penetration.

d) More intermediaries and insurance players are needed to sustain this anticipated business growth.
e) Technology is emerging as the binding factor helping coordination between underwriting and claims
management.

f) Ease of doing business due to the active role played by the regulator and the government – the
regulator is actively initiating an ecosystem that reduces the burden of regulatory compliance. A
flurry of innovative products can now be launched without prior regulatory approval. Similarly,
the relaxations offered to insurers for multiple distribution partners will hasten the growth.