Health insurance claims spike in TN, gender gap remains: Study

Tamil Nadu is one of the States with the largest number of health insurance claims, reveals a recent study conducted by a private general insurer.

While health insurance claims have seen a spike in past year across the State, the study highlights that COVID-19 claims have also seen a steady increase.

The study by Digit Insurance revealed that there has been about 3.5 times increase in the number of claims in 2021, when compared to 2020, due to the second wave and higher hospitalisations. Tamil Nadu saw the highest overall claim size last year along with states like Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat.

Among all the policyholders, the highest number of people were between the age group of 25-35 years and 36-45 years. Vivek Chaturvedi, head of direct sales at Digit Insurance, said that the rise in number of claims in 2021 indicates increased awareness for health insurance products after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The huge jump in claims, especially from non-metros, is a testament of how the pandemic has impacted smaller cities. Similar ticket sizes from metros and non-metros show that difference in healthcare costs is narrowing. This highlights the need for faster adoption of health insurance in locations beyond metros,” he pointed out.

However, there was a gap of 29 per cent witnessed between the claims for men and women. Even for COVID-19 claims, women had 32 per cent less claims than men. “While we are seeing a gradual rise in women opting for health insurance, there’s still a huge gap in claims between the 2 genders. It’s important for women to proactively buy insurance and insurers, too, must work collectively to ensure increased awareness among them,” he added.

Meanwhile, the private general insurance providers say that the unpredictable nature of the virus prompts people to take insurance. “After three waves of COVID-19, there is a surge in policyholders because there are speculations of another wave. To stay prepared, more people opt for health insurance policies,” a representative from a private provider said.