A vast section of the Indian population continues to be outside the purview of health insurance , found a report titled ‘Indian Life and Health Insurance Sectors’ from consulting firm Milliman.
The report found only 44% of the total population in the country to have a health insurance policy as of 2017. It essentially means 56% of the country’s 1.3 billion people don’t have a health cover.
The report also found the private sector to be spending a significant chunk of the healthcare expenditure in India at 70%, with the government spending only 30%. Contrary to this, the federal and state government in the US contribute as much as 45%.
Though health insurance penetration has gone up over the last few years, the market is still significantly untapped. While 76% of the population didn’t have any health cover in 2013-14, the number dropped to 56% during 2016-17. The Milliman report found the number of uncovered people by subtracting the covered people from the population estimate as given in the National Health Profile.
The report also found standalone health insurers gaining a significant presence in the retail segment between 2013-17. Experts attribute this rise to the ability of standalone health insurers to innovate their best health insurance products and aligning them with the needs of customers.
The report also says that the ambitious Aayushman Bharat Scheme launched by the Government this year, that plans to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families offering coverage up to ₹5 lakh per family, will upgrade over 1.5 lakh sub-centres to wellness centres by 2022. It’s anticipated that those not eligible for coverage under Aayushman Bharat will opt for private insurance.