Page 36 - Insurance Times May 2019

HEALTH

PROTECTION

GAP - THE

ESOTERIC

CONCEPT

years. The medical treatment globally has been on the rise.
Abstract-
People today have better choices as far as medical
The research paper tries to throw light on the different
treatment is concerned. The increasing incomes, the rise of
concepts of Health Protection Gap and their adequacy. geriatric population, the technological advancement are
The paper also suggests that PHVI can play a pivotal role some of the factors that have been triggering the healthcare
in reducing the health protection gap in India. cost across the globe.

It is true that the world is spending more on healthcare The main function of any health system should be
expenditure and the health protection gap is showing sign developing health financing system that protects the
of receding. But the above statement appears bewildering
population against the financial risks associated with ill
if we delve deeper into the definition of Health Protection health. This financial risk often turns into catastrophic
gap. You would soon realise that the calculation of health health expenditure and pushes the sufferers into debt trap.
protection gap at times defies logic and hence fails to
Even today, on an average 63 million people fall into debt
capture the gap in its totality. The expenditure on healthcare trap for sheer dearth of financial protection for their
globally is close to USD 8 trillion. There are many reasons healthcare needs.
why healthcare expenditure has been mounting over the
The word protection gap is often used for catastrophic risk
About the author which is the difference between economic loss and insured

loss. The word health protection gap is, however, defined
Prof(Dr.) Abhijit Kumar Chattoraj differently. Very often out-of-pocket spending on health is
Chairperson -Programme of Insurance taken as health protection gap.
Business Management -BIMTECH
HPG is often is often denoted as catastrophic health

36 The Insurance Times, May 2019