India: Low priority given to buying health insurance
Back to All Insurance Articles and News
April 2016People across all age groups in India shun buying health insurance because they perceive premiums as high or they believe that insurance companies would not pay claims, revealed a recent health survey by Future Generali India Insurance.
A total of 1,082 respondents were polled in the survey, the results of which were released in conjunction with World Health Day yesterday. They were classified into four age groups: 18-25; 26-35; 36-46 and 47-50+. Among the four age groups, 42-64% cited high premiums as the reason for not buying insurance while 15-35% cited the perception that insurers do not pay claims.
The study also showed that while people do understand that healthcare costs have risen, they do not go for regular health check-ups and prefer to visit the doctor only when they are unwell. While most feel that treatment and hospitalisation expenses are too high at the time of treatment of any critical illness, however they do not consider buying health insurance, reported Livemint.
The study showed too that 33% of people aged 18-25 years, do not exercise at all, while in the 26-46 years age group, around 40% people are not involved in any form of exercise. The number of people who do not exercise declines with age, and people take up light walking again at 47 onwards, the survey found. Among people who are keen to exercise, 30-50% choose to walk for 30 minutes a day at least for five days a week. Only around 11-16% of the all the people surveyed take a one-hour brisk walk daily.
Meanwhile, in conjunction with World Health Day, the UK medical journal The Lancet published a study which showed that India is among the top three countries that have the biggest number of diabetic cases in the world.
According to the Lancet study, the three countries are China, India and USA. While the numbers climbed from 20.4 million in China in 1980 to 102.9 million in 2014, the rise has been equally dramatic in India, rising from 11.9 million in 1980 to 64.5 million in 2014. In the US, the number of diabetic cases increased from 8.1 million to 22.4 million over the same period. Globally, the number of diabetics in the world quadrupled from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014.
Source: asiainsurancereview.com
About Navnit Insurance Broking Private Limited
Navnit Insurance Broking relationship with our customers lies at the heart of our business philosophy. We believe in understanding their needs and becoming their valued partners and advisors, committed to meeting their requirements at every stage of their lives.