Pandemic spurs more people in Karnataka to go for health insurance

A comparison of metros shows Bengaluru (44%) is ahead of Mumbai (18%) and Chennai (34%)

Out of 44,321 reported Covid cases in August in Karnataka, 25,920 (58 per cent) people have raised insurance claims (private) for Covid treatment as per data from the General Insurance Council.

More number of people are taking health insurance due to the Covid pandemic, researchers said, notwithstanding the free hospital treatment for Covid provided by the government to poorer sections.

In comparison, Tamil Nadu had 44 per cent of its infected patients in August raise insurance claims, Kerala 1 per cent, and Andhra Pradesh 62 per cent.

A comparison of metros shows Bengaluru (44 per cent) is ahead of Mumbai (18 per cent) and Chennai (34 per cent). Even in July, 36 per cent of Covid patients infected in the month in Bengaluru raised insurance claims.

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Mysore Sanjeev, convenor, Project Jeeva Raksha, an initiative of Proxima, supported by Public Health Foundation of India, said, “Data shows that more and more people are taking health insurance owing to the pandemic. In metros like Bengaluru and Mumbai, employers are known to provide either group health insurance or individual health insurance cover.”

In terms of claims raised for Covid deaths, Karnataka had 756 Covid deaths, out of which insurance claims were received for 482 deaths, which amounts to 64 per cent.

In Bengaluru, out of 121 deaths reported, insurance claims were received for 17 deaths, which amounts to 14 per cent.

PPE kits is also considered for insurance cover of Covid patients.

Dr Bhabatosh Mishra, director, underwriting, products & claims at Max Bupa Health Insurance, said, they have provisioned for coverage of non-payables like PPE kits under all their indemnity plans to support customers and minimise their out-of-pocket expenses.

“We have also reduced the waiting period for Covid-specific claims to 15 days across all our plans,” Mishra said.

Explaining the burden of total hospitalisation expenses, Dr S Prakash, managing director, Star Health and Allied Insurance, said, when they did a study on 3,820 hospitalised patients from across India who were 45 years and above, it revealed that the average cost of hospitalisation of the unvaccinated group was Rs 2.77 lakh, while the vaccinated group recorded an average cost of Rs 2.1 lakh.

“The length of hospital stay among the unvaccinated is an average of seven days and for the vaccinated group, it an average of 4.9 days,” he said. As many as 291 of the unvaccinated group required ICUs too, adding to the cost.

In Covid patients with comorbidities, the average treatment cost ranged from Rs 2.51 lakh for 5.9 days, if vaccinated, to 2.94 lakh for 7.7 days, if unvaccinated.

“In times of a pandemic, where health insurance has become an absolute necessity, we want more and more people to buy a health cover to secure themselves against unforeseen medical emergencies,” Mishra added.

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