Chennai: India is a relatively young nation with close to two third of our population below 30 years, but many Indians are caught between demographic advantage combined with the problem of high medical price rises and stumpy health insurance penetration across the country, according to Parag Ved, president, consumer business, Tata AIG General Insurance.
While more and more people are getting insurance for things which they care about, underinsurance and lack of awareness is a prevailing issue. At a time like this, being underinsured is as good as being uninsured as we witness an era of rising health care costs, he said.
A larger percentage of the population is covered under group health schemes as compared to an individual cover. The clear reason for it is, low premium or employer or government sponsored schemes available from the employer or entities.
Despite the long list of coverage, a large amount is paid āout of pocketā for health care, while the rest buy health insurance as a tax saving instrument, he added.
A health insurance policy can be considered as comprehensive only if coverage as well benefits is aligned to an individualās needs. Scope of comprehensive health insurance coverage depends on oneās lifestyle, life stage, existing disease (if any), family medical history etc. Group health policies take care of basic initial needs, but individual health insurance products offer more customised and suitableĀ offerings, he said.