Page 14 - Insurance Times June 2023

Health insurance segment
Health insurance penetration still low
to cross Rs 1-trillion mark India's health insurance segment contributed 0.34 percentage point out of
the overall 1 percentage point of general insurance (including health insur-
in FY24
ance) penetration in the country during FY22, Lok Sabha was informed.
The health insurance segment is on
During FY22, the number of persons covered under health Insurance stood
track to cross the Rs 1-trillion mark
at 52.04 crore, said Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad in a writ-
during the current financial year as the
ten reply to a Lok Sabha question.
total premium already crossed Rs
90,000 crore in the previous fiscal. The Minister said insurance regulator IRDAI has informed the government
that it has adopted a multi-pronged approach using print and electronic
Total premium rose to Rs 90,667.7
media to enhance consumer awareness on various aspects of insurance,
crore in the last fiscal, from Rs 73,598
including health insurance on a pan-India basis, encouraging all stakehold-
crore in FY22. Total health premium
ers to promote insurance awareness among the public.
had stood at Rs 58,684.2 crore in FY21,
Despite these efforts, the outcome on health insurance penetration in the
according to CareEdge Ratings.
country continues to be low, say experts.
CareEdge, in a note, said health insur-
ance premiums have been the primary
CEO, Shriram General Insurance, told.
growth lever of the non-life insurance Common cashless network
industry. "This has resulted in the seg- The group health segment has wit- for all hospitals may be in
ment increasing its market share from nessed growth primarily due to the
place by July-August
29.5% for FY21 to 35.3% for FY23. The rationalisation of discounts in premi-
The majority of 5,000-odd hospitals in
health segment has grown by 23.2% ums.
the country may soon come under a
for FY23, which is lower than the "Standalone health insurance compa-
common network for cashless health
growth of 25.4% witnessed for FY22," nies' focus is on retail, while general
insurance facilities. The general insur-
the rating agency said. insurers account for a dominant share
ance council is working with hospitals
"This is because of the Covid, which of group. The FY23 premium growth of and all the 20 non-life insurance com-
has been the game changer for the the SAHI continues to be higher than panies (general and stand-alone
health insurance business. Before the industry average. This has led to an health) for one platform. This could be
Covid, motor insurance was the lead- SAHI holding 28.9% of the health insur- ready by July-August of this year.
ing portfolio. But now, everyone be- ance market (increasing their share
Now, only the four PSU general insur-
comes health conscious, and it looks from 26.8% in FY21). Interestingly, pri- ance companies have their network of
like health insurance will continuously vate players and SAHI have a similar hospitals. The other private health and
be the leader in the non-life insurance share in FY23, while public peers have general insurance companies have
sector," Anil Kumar Aggarwal, MD & grown at a slower pace," CareEdge said. their separate networks. If the com-

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