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Since the COVID-19 pandemic, India has seen a sharp increase in healthcare cost inflation, making reliable and standardized healthcare unattainable for several sections of society and increasing health insurance premiums. are. Last year, the country saw health care cost inflation of 14%, even though the general inflation rate remained in the single digits. Healthcare market experts say this level of escalation is unsustainable and a market correction should begin soon.
talk to of hinduism, Sumit Vohra, president of the Insurance Brokers Association of India (IBAI), points out that currently, rising medical costs and rising health insurance premiums are interacting with each other in India.
medical expenses
“This is a vicious cycle, with claims now reaching 90%. A third of the insurance sector is accounted for by the health insurance sector, and this sector is growing at a rate of 19-21% every year. and is expected to grow further,” he said.
Bohra listed the reasons for the rising cost of healthcare, including the concentration of specialist doctors in the private sector, overcrowding in public hospitals (leading to long delays, etc.), and the affordability of insurance (which allows people to pay more when they need it). (spending more). (have health insurance), increased demand and availability of medical interventions are all factors.
Supporting this trend, ACKO General Insurance in a recent report said that its analysis of health insurance claims shows that hospitalizations in India in 2023-2024 will jump by 12.8% compared to the previous financial year; points out that the average bill amount was ₹70,558. , up from ₹62,548 in the previous fiscal.
Additionally, the report notes that the costs of common medical procedures are rising. The cost of angioplasty is now between 200,000 and 300,000 rupees, up from 100,000 to 1,500,000 rupees in 2018. Similarly, the cost of kidney transplant has doubled from Rs 50-800,000 in 2018 to Rs 1-1.5 million in 2024. According to the company, this could further double in the coming years.
Health insurance, also known as medical insurance plan/policy, is a financial tool to cover medical expenses, and there are a variety of them currently available in the Indian market.
Despite this option, ordinary people are dissatisfied with rising health insurance premiums.
Doctor and health activist Arun Gupta and his wife Rita Gupta (a senior citizen) have written to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) about the excessive hike in insurance premiums by 450% over three years. He said he sent it.
Speaking about private insurance, Dr. Gupta said that access to reliable, high-quality health care is no longer a matter of rights, but of having the “right” insurance.
“This area needs regulation in terms of caps on insurance premiums, regulation of costs spent on patients during hospitalization, standardization of hospital costs, etc.,” he said.
The population is vulnerable to catastrophic expenditures
Meanwhile, on how rising costs can be curbed, Bora said customers should consider purchasing health insurance only for chronic illnesses and surgeries.
“This system will help stabilize the market,” he said, adding that because there are many players in the market, customers are now also offered schemes such as fixed premiums and benefit guarantees. added.
In its report on health insurance, central government policy think tank NITI Aayog has said that India’s population is vulnerable to catastrophic expenditures that are not limited to the poor.
“Prepayment through health insurance has emerged as an important tool to spread risk and protect against catastrophe. [and often impoverishing] Expenditures due to health shocks. “At least 30% of the population, or 4 billion people referred to in this report as the ‘missing middle class’, lack economic security for their health,” the report said.
Lack of robust public health infrastructure
Abhay Shukla, co-chairman of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), a non-governmental organization working on healthcare rights, said they have decided to intervene in various petitions challenging the regulation of hospital charges. .
“Currently, India lacks a strong public health infrastructure, leaving people with no choice but to rely on private health facilities to meet their medical needs.Without effective regulation, millions of thousands of people are exposed to exploitation by private hospitals “Both the central and state governments have not taken steps to effectively implement central or state-level laws like the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010 (CEA),” he said. It added that facilities are required to comply. The fees are determined by the central government in consultation with each state government.
issued – December 21, 2024 7:35 PM IST
