HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS SURGE 25% BY THIS YEAR: SURVEY
After experiencing an average increase of over 10% in health insurance premiums in 2021, at least three out of five Indians have seen their premiums shoot up by 25% or more in 2022, as revealed by LocalCircles.
Such an increase is putting a squeeze on household budgets, especially those of senior citizens who are facing the biggest increase.
The survey collected over 20,000 responses in two periods of August 2021 and August 2022 from citizens located in 287 districts of India and asked people about the increase in health insurance premiums they experienced in the last year.
Around 38% of respondents had their health insurance premium go up by 50% or more in the last year, while 24% of citizens saw their premium increase by 25%-50% and 11% had seen their health insurance premium go up by 10%-25%. Another 9% paid 0%-10% higher premium. Only 18%, either did not have to shell out more or witnessed a dip in insurance premiums,s or were unaware as their employer is taking care of it.
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Post the Covid pandemic, health insurance premiums have increased between 10-25% for several reasons cited by insurance providers including high payouts during the last two years. In the case of senior citizens, according to policybazaar.com, an Indian insurance aggregator, “The health insurance premiums have increased by up to 100%”. Feedback from citizens on LocalCircles suggests that for people over the age of 65 years, the premium amount has doubled over the last 2 years. For example, if the health insurance for two people in the year 2019 – 2020 was Rs 28,000, then it is between Rs. 55,000 to Rs. 60,000 this year.”
Another reason for the higher premiums this year is the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and expansion in coverage are some other factors behind the rise in price. In 2019 September, the IRDAI introduced the standardization of the exclusions under insurance cover. According to this, insurance providers are not eligible to exclude some specific diseases. IRDAI has made it mandatory for companies to provide coverage for some of the modern methods of treatment.
Last year while the percentage of respondents who experienced an increase of over 25% in health insurance premiums was 34%, this year that number has jumped to 62%. Overall, an average Indian, after experiencing a 10% increase in 2021 is now experiencing an average increase of 25%.
Many senior citizens with independent policies are reporting a much higher increase of over 50%, which is putting a squeeze on their retirement finances at a time when costs of most products like fuel, and essentials are all rising.
"With COVID-related hospitalization claims in 2022 being a small fraction of those observed in April-June 2021, there is a need for the IRDA, the regulator, and insurance companies to find ways to revise these premiums downwards and freeze any increases going into 2023," said Sachin Taparia, founder of LocalCircles
ARTICLE BY
TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Aug 25, 2022, 09:44 IST
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