Is Tariff really a critical factor in the growth of Health Insurance. Do people do not take health insurance because of tariff or due to a lack of awareness. Setting any kind of boundaries does affect a market, and probably that is what C. S. Rao, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Devleopment Authority meant to say.
"The healthcare industry has two concerns: insurance and removal of tariffs. Once tariffs are removed, insurance will get a boost, said C.S. Rao, while speaking at the Health Insurance Summit organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Oct 5, 2007 in Mumbai.
Also it has been noted that senior citizens are unhappy with the existing
health insurance schemes and an issue which needs to be addressed, said Mr. Rao.
Health insurance in India forms a small part of insurance. With 75 percent of the Indians residing in the rural areas, more doctors need to be posted in these regions. Also, the poor have still to be taken care of by the government since it is only a miniscule number of people from the society that can pay for health insurance.
By next decade the health insurance scenario in India would look different undergoing a transformation due to efforts from Government, added Mr. G. C. Chaturvedi, Joint. Secretary and Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. With an addition of 0.11 beds per annum and 100 million Indians covered by self-funded government schemes, most public private partnerships will reduce high out of pocket health insurance. Regulatory mechanisms would also be enforced to have a proper system in place. Proper policies needs to be in place, for the catering to the health requirement of the poor.
Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, CII National Healthcare Council and Chairman, Apollo Hospitals, emphasized that while the health industry contributed to over five percent to the national income, still it remains one of the most neglected industry. The reasons are mainly lack of awareness and disinterest among the masses on the whole.
The statistics for health services are not so encouraging with one Primary Health Centre for every 30,000 people and only six maternity beds. The rural sector which forms 75 percent of Indian population has access to only 31 percent of hospitals, 18 percent of beds and only 25 percent of qualified allopathic doctors.
In addition to that the light escalating prices for medicines, treatment and to avail medical facilities is slipping out of one's reach.
Although there are a host of insurance policies available today to choose from mandatory, public, private, employer based to community based schemes, the hindrances has been due to the fact that 24 percent of the population are poverty line and 35 percent are illiterate.
As per the study undertaken by the WHO, the insurance in India is mainly financed from out of pocket expenditure in comparison to all other countries involve in the study including China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam to mention a few.
India has a huge population base; there is immense potential for the industry to grow in future. While the government is working on the regulatory issues on one hand, the private sector is looking at insurance expertise and product design.
"Unlike Life Insurance, in case of health insurance, there are multiple stakeholders involved and it is important for all of them to work together to make a success of this. This Summit has tried to assemble a confluence of industry players on a common platform to explore and arrive at a consensus on key directions," said A Vaidheesh, Summit Chairman and Managing Director, Johnson and Johnson Medical.
An aging population and an increase in lifestyle diseases will push the demand for hospitalization. It is important to recognize health as continuum and not as a point of reference. "The Summit will prove constructive for the vast array of issues affecting growth of this industry and the economy as a whole." Calling for a broader view of healthcare costs and an improved healthcare infrastructure, he said that by 2015, health insurance will cover 20 percent of the Indian population.
Providing an insight into the insurer's mind, Mr D D Singh, Executive Director, Health Insurance, Life Insurance Corporation of India, stated that an insurer faces difficulties while choosing a product. Cost, quality and access decide the success of health insurance. The insurance companies need to talk about the mindset of the customer.
According to Jean-Michel Chatagny, MD, Client Market Asia, Swiss Re, in 2004 the world spent 4.1 trillion dollars on health. India has very less expenditure on health. Private insurance is very low and has the lowest percentage of government spending among the BRIC countries. The Swiss government encourages purchase of health insurance. India has potential for private insurers. Also, the care delivery infrastructure needs to be overhauled and the government has an important role to play, he said.
In his welcome address, Banmali Agrawala, Deputy Chairman, CII Western Region and MD Wartsila India Ltd said that the first ever health insurance summit in India is an attempt to remind people of the importance of 'forgotten' health and health insurance to keep up with the fast track life. An indirect advantage of health insurance is that it keeps medical costs and practices under check. With the opening of the Insurance Industry to FDI, large amounts of funds have been flowing in.
"The healthcare industry has two concerns: insurance and removal of tariffs. Once tariffs are removed, insurance will get a boost, said C.S. Rao, while speaking at the Health Insurance Summit organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Oct 5, 2007 in Mumbai.
Also it has been noted that senior citizens are unhappy with the existing
health insurance schemes and an issue which needs to be addressed, said Mr. Rao.Health insurance in India forms a small part of insurance. With 75 percent of the Indians residing in the rural areas, more doctors need to be posted in these regions. Also, the poor have still to be taken care of by the government since it is only a miniscule number of people from the society that can pay for health insurance.
By next decade the health insurance scenario in India would look different undergoing a transformation due to efforts from Government, added Mr. G. C. Chaturvedi, Joint. Secretary and Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. With an addition of 0.11 beds per annum and 100 million Indians covered by self-funded government schemes, most public private partnerships will reduce high out of pocket health insurance. Regulatory mechanisms would also be enforced to have a proper system in place. Proper policies needs to be in place, for the catering to the health requirement of the poor.
Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, CII National Healthcare Council and Chairman, Apollo Hospitals, emphasized that while the health industry contributed to over five percent to the national income, still it remains one of the most neglected industry. The reasons are mainly lack of awareness and disinterest among the masses on the whole.
The statistics for health services are not so encouraging with one Primary Health Centre for every 30,000 people and only six maternity beds. The rural sector which forms 75 percent of Indian population has access to only 31 percent of hospitals, 18 percent of beds and only 25 percent of qualified allopathic doctors.
In addition to that the light escalating prices for medicines, treatment and to avail medical facilities is slipping out of one's reach.
Although there are a host of insurance policies available today to choose from mandatory, public, private, employer based to community based schemes, the hindrances has been due to the fact that 24 percent of the population are poverty line and 35 percent are illiterate.
As per the study undertaken by the WHO, the insurance in India is mainly financed from out of pocket expenditure in comparison to all other countries involve in the study including China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam to mention a few.
India has a huge population base; there is immense potential for the industry to grow in future. While the government is working on the regulatory issues on one hand, the private sector is looking at insurance expertise and product design.
"Unlike Life Insurance, in case of health insurance, there are multiple stakeholders involved and it is important for all of them to work together to make a success of this. This Summit has tried to assemble a confluence of industry players on a common platform to explore and arrive at a consensus on key directions," said A Vaidheesh, Summit Chairman and Managing Director, Johnson and Johnson Medical.
An aging population and an increase in lifestyle diseases will push the demand for hospitalization. It is important to recognize health as continuum and not as a point of reference. "The Summit will prove constructive for the vast array of issues affecting growth of this industry and the economy as a whole." Calling for a broader view of healthcare costs and an improved healthcare infrastructure, he said that by 2015, health insurance will cover 20 percent of the Indian population.
Providing an insight into the insurer's mind, Mr D D Singh, Executive Director, Health Insurance, Life Insurance Corporation of India, stated that an insurer faces difficulties while choosing a product. Cost, quality and access decide the success of health insurance. The insurance companies need to talk about the mindset of the customer.
According to Jean-Michel Chatagny, MD, Client Market Asia, Swiss Re, in 2004 the world spent 4.1 trillion dollars on health. India has very less expenditure on health. Private insurance is very low and has the lowest percentage of government spending among the BRIC countries. The Swiss government encourages purchase of health insurance. India has potential for private insurers. Also, the care delivery infrastructure needs to be overhauled and the government has an important role to play, he said.
In his welcome address, Banmali Agrawala, Deputy Chairman, CII Western Region and MD Wartsila India Ltd said that the first ever health insurance summit in India is an attempt to remind people of the importance of 'forgotten' health and health insurance to keep up with the fast track life. An indirect advantage of health insurance is that it keeps medical costs and practices under check. With the opening of the Insurance Industry to FDI, large amounts of funds have been flowing in.
3 comments:
Insurance must bemade compulsory
Insurance is 3Dmworks - disability, dicease and death; compunsate the loss with death of
head of family/bread earner.It shoudl be made mandatory to insure each and every family as a single unit.
An indirect advantage of health insurance is that it keeps medical costs and practices under check.
3D_effect covers for disability due to accident, pays for disease and compunsate the loss due to death; Future o childs education is ensured in case of deaht of father, when father has taken an insurance policies.
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