For the healthcare ecosystem, COVID-19 will bring in new opportunities, said Mayank Bathwal, Chief Executive Officer at Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co. Limited (ABHICL). He was speaking at a webinar series ‘India After COVID-19’ organised by FPJ-IIM Indore.
Supported by BIG FM and Moneylife, the one-hour webinar was on health insurance and its relevance after COVID-19. At the session, Bathwal said, “It is unfortunate, but COVID-19 may act as a trigger for people to buy health insurance.” After this pandemic, there will be serious consideration given to healthcare and that will get more people to opt for health insurance insurance at various levels.
Bathwal stated the responsibility for popularising health insurance will not be limited to the government but will have active involvement from the private sector as well.
Lauding the government for its ambitious healthcare scheme, Ayushman Bharat, Bathwal said while the healthcare scheme will cover 60-65 crore people, IRDAI too has promoted Arogya Sanjeevani to cover another 30-40 crore people. He added the rest of the population can avail of other insurance products that are offered by various insurance companies.
Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s past speeches, Bathwal stated that he is hopeful about healthcare not being the same anymore. He felt that India cannot have healthcare spends at one per cent of their GDP, it will have to improve. “I am hopeful there will be a big shift in the healthcare system not just in terms of size but quality as well.” He praised the efforts of the private players in the healthcare industry but he said there is a lot more to be done in case of providing smooth services to the patients like telemedicine etc.
Breaking the term Health Insurance into two parts, Bathwal emphasised the need to focus on health rather than sickness. “There has to be a big focus on preventive and primary care. The focus of Ayushman Bharat is health and wellness centres which should be the focus of the industry as well.” By focusing on the health of the consumer, the insurance companies will have reduced risk exposure and the customer will also save him or herself from facing severe health issues.
The health insurance industry is growing at the rate of 30-35 per cent year-on-year but the penetration of it is only 5-6 per cent. However, Bathwal opined that due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the relevance of health insurance will become much more evident than ever before. This, he said, was because health is the number one topic in the minds of every consumer. So, that is expected to lead many to knock at the door of health insurance companies.
Complete session here:
