Health insurance to benefit from de-tariffing: IRDA

Even as health insurance is not under any tariffs, it will be benefited once the second round of de-tariffing for non-life insurance sector come through. Health insurance which has been cross-subsidising tariffed policies like motor and fire insurance will now be able to free price the policy depending on risks and coverage.

“The healthcare industry has two concerns: insurance and removal of tariffs. Once tariffs are removed, insurance will get a boost, said C S Rao, chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) at the Health Insurance Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The emerging concerns however, remain coverage of pre-existing diseases for the senior citizens. The poor status of health insurance in the rural sector which is primarily handled by the government also surfaced in the summit. Jean-Michel Chatagny, MD, Client Market Asia, Swiss Re added that private insurance was very low and India has the lowest percentage of government spending among the BRIC countries.