New Delhi: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has pitched for an affordable health insurance cover for all by reducing expenses. Health insurance for all before India celebrates its 100th year of independence in 2047 should be the target before all stakeholders, said IRDAI chairman Debasish Panda.
Addressing the ‘Health Insurance Summit 2022’ on Tuesday, Panda said that high operating and distribution costs, and hospital expenses as indirect costs could be the reasons affecting the insurance pricing.
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Pricing is probably very high leaving insurance cover unaffordable to many sections of society, Panda said, “We have to look at ways of reducing the expenses in order to make insurance affordable,” adding that it should not be too burdensome for insurers either.
The Rs 60,000 crore Indian health insurance market has the potential to register a 30-35 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) as against the CAGR of 19 per cent in the past five years, Panda expressed while indicating that better awareness, deeper penetration and innovative health insurance products can help achieve this goal.
BIMA SUGAM
He further shared that the insurance regulator is working to facilitate that growth through a new all-in-one insurance platform – BIMA SUGAM. This will act as a one-stop solution platform for people to access all the products of all the insurance companies.
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“We have already initiated amendments of regulations in the sandbox that would help in innovation and experimentation. This would also give an impetus to start-ups who are coming up with innovative solutions. Going forward, parametric insurance products need to come up, OPD services need to be covered, treatments currently under exclusion should be included and distribution inefficiencies need to be addressed,” the IRDAI chairman noted.
Health insurance needs to work closely with healthcare providers and there is a need to brainstorm new and comprehensive products for geriatrics care, and pre-existing diseases, he added.
