Health Insurance News

Despite a steep increase in premium for health insurance policies in the last one year, there has not been any decline in renewals and the demand for new policies, say experts.

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Millennials continue to drive demand for health cover

According to industry estimates, health cover premiums increased by 1015 per cent across various general and standalone health cover providers in the last one year.

"Increase in health cover premiums are to be understood in the context of rising medical inflation in the country and we don't see any adverse impact on the renewal of cover on account of increase.

"About 25 per cent of our premium comes from renewals," Priya Deshmukh, Head Health products, Operations and Services, ICICI Lombard, told. According to Narendra Bharindwal, Vice President, Insurance Brokers Association of India, the increase in retail health cover policies has been higher compared to that in the corporate group cover segment.

One of the reasons for frequent hike in premium is the practice of bracketing of age groups in deciding the price of cover, he said, adding: "The younger the person, the cheaper the cover."

'Senior citizens' annual health insurance premium hike capped at 10%

IRDAI has directed insurers not to increase senior citizens' health premiums by more than 10% for without approval as those aged 60 and above see mediclaim policy prices shoot up. Additionally, insurers must seek approval from the regulator before discontinuing health policies for seniors.

To control rising healthcare costs, insurers have been urged to standardise hospital empanelment and negotiate package rates similar to govt's PM Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).

An IRDAI statement noted a significant increase in premiums for some health insurance products for policyholders aged 60 and above. The regulator noted that premium rates are determined by estimated claims, administrative costs, and acquisition expenses. A major factor driving these increases is the lack of standardised hospitalisation costs in private insurance, unlike PMJAY, which negotiates uniform package rates.