India spends roughly 3.9 % of GDP towards healthcare compared to 17% in USA. It is one of the lowest spenders in healthcare among the BRIC. 9 out of 10 persons in Indian do not have health insurance cover. Though the sector is growing at 16% CAGR, there is a dire need to ramp up the coverage of health insurance. Some reform measures have been introduced in 2013 to de-compartmentalize health insurance from other insurance and allowed them to tie with banks to penetrate rural sector.
Though privatized in 2000, the public sector insurance companies leads the market with 60% market share and the rest of share ties with private sector companies with ICICI Lombard leading it with 9.7 % market share. Indian middle class are yet to accept healthcare insurance as a necessary and they procrastinate until they meet a challenging situation.
An awareness drive and enticing offers in their earlier years will go a long way in healthcare insurance coverage.
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