The changing face of health insurance distribution in India

In the fiscal year of 2021, nearly 514 million people across India were covered under health insurance schemes. Of these, the highest number of people were insured under government-sponsored health insurance schemes, while individual insurance plans had the lowest number of people. Overall, the penetration of health insurance in India stood at just around 35% in financial year 2018. India has a decentralised approach to health care and that allows health insurance to be optional. Technically, all citizens are eligible for free healthcare at government facilities and individual states are responsible for organizing these services. However, the country’s health system is severely underfunded in terms of staff as well as supply shortages. A vast number of people seek care from private providers. Over 64 percent of the total healthcare expenditure in the country was from out-of-pocket expenses in fiscal year 2016. Points of discussion 1. How do you see health insurance in India transforming to benefit the missing middle. Is there any significant trend that tells the story towards this transformation. 2. Indian insurance distribution market is complicated. How do you see health insurers preparing for the next distribution model to reduce the gap between insurance and customers. 3. Agents are the oldest channel of health insurance sales in India. The physical accessibility of the person gives added credibility and ease of communication. Do to see this changing with the invent of digital in Insurance. Speaker Bio: Ruchir Kanakia, is the Co-founder and CEO of OneAssure. Prior to OneAssure, Ruchir Co-Founded GoPlannr. From the academic side, he has graduated from Sardar Patel Institute of Technology, University of Mumbai.