Health Insurers hopes for better health infrastructure to support growth

The Covid pandemic brought with it greater awareness regarding the need for health insurance boosting business for such insurers in 2022 even as they battled higher claims, technological disruptions and regulatory changes.

Even as pandemic-related claims subsided in the second half of the year, health insurers continued to witness elevated claims due to Covid -related health issues, deferred surgeries and delayed chronic treatments.

On the other hand, health insurance sector also saw a greater technological adoption with the use of telemedicine and electronic health records. On the regulatory front, reforms pertained to enhancing access to health insurance, inclusion of transgender people, and the addition of mental illness and alternate therapies to health covers.

“The last two years fostered newer, innovative health insurance offerings and products that included telemedicine, diagnostics, etc. Customers also displayed a newfound interest in health insurance, which resulted in higher premium collections as well,” said Satish Gidugu, CEO at Medi Assist.

With greater emphasis on digitisation, advent of the Bima Sugam platform and shift in IRDAI’s approach to more principle-based regulations, the focus of the health insurance industry going into 2023 is on improving the ease of doing business and product innovation. 

Some of the initiatives such as ‘use and file’ will provide greater flexibility and encourage innovation to introduce customised products for specific customer segments, said Krishnan Ramachandran, MD and CEO of Niva Bupa Health Insurance, adding it will also help address the ever-evolving health needs of customers.