52% growth in health insurance claims for senior citizens: Bajaj Allianz General Insurance report

According to a data on claims released by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, there has been a 52% increase in the number of claims by people above 60 between 2016 to 2019, whereas, the average claim size is in the range of Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 65,000. Across the past 3 years, 60% of the total claimants are males. The average age of claimants is 68 years. There has been a 40% increase in the number of senior citizens who have been claiming from their individual health insurance policies. This is a welcome trend, one that represents an increase in insurance penetration. “Since ageing is inevitable and irreversible it is suggested that everyone starts investing in a good health insurance policy at a younger age, so that any pre-existing disease gets covered within the stipulated time frame,” said Bhaskar Nerurkar, head of health claims at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance. “This is also the reason why we suggest everyone to get an individual health insurance for themselves as a company sponsored GMC might be terminated or may be inadequate post retirement. This World Senior Citizen Day, we wish to see our senior citizens equipped with adequate amount of health insurance so that they continue contributing to community building, while their health insurance takes care of any health related financial exigency,” he further added.