Health insurance cover leaps to Rs 3.5 lakh in 5 years

The average health insurance cover has increased from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh for the first time in past five years. The room rental cover during hospitalisation has also increased to Rs 4,000 from Rs 3,000 per day. Also, another trend in health insurance is that employees are chipping in to buy a wider range of benefits from employer-funded group covers. Until now, insurance companies have been periodically hiking health insurance rates due to high claims in group insurance policies. Many employers had been responding to the rate hikes by placing curbs on covering parents or other restrictions on the cover. But employers are now discovering that employees are willing to pay out of their pocket for a wider cover. “Organisations are embracing positive trends from developed countries, and are working to provide a competitive and effective health and benefit package to retain and hire the right talent,” said Sanjay Kedia, CEO, Marsh India, one of the world’s largest brokerage firms.