Is Your Health Really Covered?

Non-communicable diseases are silently crippling Indian families. It's time for insurance to focus on prevention, not just treatment.

- Bhaskar Nerurkar

Outside a clinic in Srinagar, a 42-year-old mechanic waits for a blood test he can't afford. His fingers are swollen, his breathing is heavy. For months, he brushed off the signs, until his body gave out.

His insurance covers hospitalization, not the checkups that might have caught the disease earlier. Now he's being screened for chronic heart failure.

He's one of millions stuck in a healthcare catch: health insurance in India is growing, but most plans only kick in after you get sick.

The idea of insurance that helps people stay healthy in the first place still feels unfamiliar, when it should be foundational.

Across India, families are paying a steep price for this gap in coverage.

More than half of all deaths in the country are now caused by noncommunicable diseases, conditions like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory disorders.

These noncontagious diseases don't come from polluted water or mosquito bites. They grow silently from our diets, routines, and stress.

And they are growing fast.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have dominated India’s disease burden for over three decades. The numbers are staggering.

The economic cost of NCDs in India is projected to exceed 511 lakh crore (US$6.2 trillion) by 2030. Obesity and overweight-related illnesses alone cost the country 2.8 lakh crore annually, more than 1% of our entire GDP.