by Leader Nancy Pelosi

If You Are An Indian, You Need Health Insurance by Medimanage.com

This is serious. Look up for health insurance in India on Google, and you are sure to get as many as 40,800,000 searches, all leading to the various companies that offer health insurance in India, the foreign companies that are all set to open operations here, and to the growing need of health insurance for every Indian.

Yes, India is a great market for MNCs setting up their operations here, we are a great market for FMCG products as we are big spendthrifts, for publishing as we are voracious readers, for travel and tourism industry as we are holiday lovers, for fashion and textiles as we are a bunch of fashion conscious people, for outsourcing as we are great at customer service and have mastered the global language and so on.

But, all understood, it is now important to know what makes India a potentially growing market for health insurance and why should Indians buy health insurance? Well, there are not one, but many reasons stating that the need of health insurance among Indians is increasing. Let’s find out…

Reports say

Firstly I am not going to define health insurance, because given the vigorous marketing and promotion by numerous private and public sector health insurance companies in India, you simply can’t be ignorant of the term. But chances are that you still prefer being aloof from health insurance, undermining its importance.

So, it becomes increasingly necessary that you know – According to a report by the Asia Insurance Review, in India, there will be many more people who would require health insurance in the age bracket (60-75 years) as age is the prime reason for contracting several diseases and ailments.

Rising health costs

The healthcare costs are rising and all the more there is no standardization of healthcare costs. In a reputed Indian hospital, charges for treatment of a big surgery, like, Open heart surgery, costs Rs. 2,50,000 to Rs. 4,50,000.

It is only when a Health insurance policy is taken by a person, can he take care of the hospitalization costs of such magnitude. All the more, different hospitals charge different rates, and there is no fixed cost anywhere. This makes it even more pertinent for you to be insured, as you never know the cost of a treatment in the hospital you would be admitted for a particular ailment or injury. Also, if insured, you can relax and get good treatment from a hospital of your choice. Else, when left to finance for health costs by yourself, you will prefer that hospital, which charges the least, but the quality of treatment too could suffer then.

No authenticity of procedures

It is not just the costs, but there is also a lack of standardization and accreditation in healthcare facilities leading to difficulty in judging the authenticity of procedures. While some doctors may prescribe certain tests to get done, those tests may not be necessary at all from the other doctor’s point of view. Again, because of this fluctuation of costs and procedures, a patient becomes the soft target, and pays as per what he is told, thereby making a dent in his pocket.

Lifestyle illnesses can mar growth

A study shows that a growing number of people are estimated to suffer from lifestyle diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, stroke and this will have a negative impact on the economic growth and the chances of the IT sector being hit by lifestyle diseases is the highest. All the more, it is said that the cost involved in the treatment and cure of chronic diseases could be more than £100bn over the next 10 years.

As a result of work stress, night shifts, long working hours, and a sedentary lifestyle, people are prone to such disease, as has been confirmed by The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.

Ravi Kasliwal, a well-known cardiologist at New Delhi’s Indraprastha hospital, said that between 2000 and 2030 heart disease is projected to account for 35% of deaths among India’s working-age population citing data from the World Health Organization. To read more about If you are an Indian, you need Health Insurance