The growth of health insurance in India

The growth of health insurance in India : " Health insurance is now sold by general insurers, life insurers and stand-alone health insurance companies in India. Whilst health insurance figures are not reported separately for life insurers, health insurance premiums written by the general and health insurance companies are reported and the figures make interesting reading Health insurance premiums exceeded Rs32 billion (US$800 million) in the financial year ending on 31 March 2007 (FY2006), an increase of 44 per cent on the previous year. For most of the private general insurance companies, health is one of the fastest growing lines of business. Growth in health insurance premium income in the last year ranged between 39 per cent and 686 per cent and many general insurers have made statements regarding the strategic importance of health insurance as a line of business for them.

The economic changes witnessed in India in the last few years are starting to have a major impact on both the provision of healthcare and the availability of health insurance. There is a unique opportunity to capture market share, whilst the market is relatively young and in a dynamic phase of development for early entrants. The insurance companies that offer innovative consumer-friendly products, whilst concentrating on building robust underwriting and claims ‘gate keeping’ protocols for their health insurance business, are likely to be the winners."