Health insurance scene in India
India’s 1.3 billion people are well aware about insurance. The country majorly has a pay-out-of-your-pocket scenario where people pay for their healthcare needs out of their pockets, as and when the need arises. In fact, only 15% of people in the world’s largest democracy and second most populous country have some form of insurance. A large portion of this 15% is government employees who get insurance as part of their employee benefits. One of the major reasons cited for the glaring gap in the number of people who fall sick is the shockingly low budget that is allotted from the country’s GDP (a mere 1%).
Another reason that is probably a stronger reason for the lack of health insurance in India is the lack of awareness about the entire concept of insurance. There is a clear, wide gap between the number of people falling sick and the number of people claiming insurance in India. Even a well-off middle-class family in India can go into financial troubles over a period of a few months just due to the lack of insurance and the high healthcare costs of a family member.
Importance of Health Insurance
Today, if you see the healthcare scenario, it is largely fragmented and not uniform. While there are regions in the country that struggle to get a simple health check-up at a primary healthcare centre, the cities have players that use AI and mobile technology to provide doctor consultations and medicine deliveries with a click of an on-screen button. However, when it comes to insurance, the process is still long-drawn, involves claims, hospitals overcharging patients and the entire process is mentally and financially agonizing. The problems are only magnified when an individual and his family have no insurance at all.
A dive into Group Health Insurance scene
An interesting fact that is less known in organizations is that employees tend to stay longer and work longer in organizations if they are happy with their health insurance plans and healthcare benefits. The trend of insuring employees has also spread to private employers, and around 30% of the people employed in private organizations are employed by their employers. With the coronavirus pandemic, it has now become mandatory for all employers to insure their employees. Slowly but surely this trend is witnessing a change. Organizations have started to understand the importance of Healthcare for their employees.
Organizations focusing on finer aspects of Group Health Insurance
As more & more organizations have started focusing towards getting the right insurance plan for their employees, they are beginning to explore the benefits of it. Whether it's higher retention rate or increased employee engagement, both are crucial areas for any organization's growth. Companies are starting to realize that a healthy employee is a happy employee & all happy employees are highly productive. Investing in employees health benefits is beneficial for the organization in both long & short term goals.
Corporate Health Insurance in India is evolving at a rapid pace. This is the sole reason for availability of various add-on benefits providing players in the market. Their aim is to challenge the status-quo of the age-old healthcare & insurance industry. In the coming years, the industry is predicted to grow exponentially, as employees have started giving health benefits more weightage while making career decisions.
