People Residing In These 3 Indian States Are Proactive In Personal Healthcare

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have emerged as the top three states for collecting highest health insurance premium in the financial year 2012-13. According to a research carried out by industry body ASSOCHAM, Maharashtra collected health insurance premium worth Rs 4,370 crore in 2012-13 followed by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that collected premiums worth Rs 1,780 crore and Rs 1,400 crore respectively in FY 13.

“Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka together account for over half of the gross health premium income collected in Indian states and union territories as of FY 2012-13. This is because of the several new initiatives taken by the Central and State Governments to promote health insurance coverage and spending in the country and to expand and deepen benefit coverage for the poor,” said D S Rawat, secretary general of the chamber.

He added that the new government should now focus on providing basic minimum health insurance coverage to every citizen at a very nominal rate. “India is grappling with poor penetration of health insurance and the government must take steps to increase the same,” noted Rawat.

According to the research findings, the health insurance premiums in Bihar grew by over a whopping 4,000% from a meager Rs 7 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 315 crore in 2012-13. On the other hand, Maharashtra registered a growth rate of 75% from over Rs 2,480 crore in FY 10 to Rs 4,370 crore in FY 13.

Interestingly, Andhra Pradesh is the only state that registered a 13% decline in the collection of the premiums, from Rs 800 crore in FY 10 to Rs 695 crore in FY 13. It is important to note that the overall health insurance premium in India grew by over 88% from about Rs 7,980 crore to over Rs 15,000 crore in the same time period.

“Increase in healthcare costs, rise in per-capita incomes, increasing burden of new diseases, health-related risks and high financial burden on poor eroding their incomes are certain key factors contributing towards the growth of health insurance market in India,” averred Rawat.

Currently, the health insurance market is pegged to be around Rs 13,000 crore and is growing at a CAGR of nearly 20%. The chamber is expecting the industry to cross Rs 32,000 crore mark by 2016-17 and has attributed the growth to rising income levels together with growing health insurance premium.