How to control Passive Smokers?

Should Health Insurance Premium be adjusted?

Sometimes you come across interesting facts in publications. Economics Times Wealth August 18-24, 2013 has carried the following information

56% is the difference between the premium of a smoker and a non-smoker for a life insurance policy. The question before us is:

If Life Insurance Industry penalizes a person by 56% then what is the figure for Health Insurance? Why not penalize family members / colleagues who are passive smokers and are being compelled to smoke? May be this will result in reduction of smokers in our country.

Indian Health Insurance Market- 2012-2013

Health Insurance Market continues to be loss making portfolio during 2012-2013

Estimates of Indian Health Insurance Market for the year ending March 31, 2013 are now available and according to it this market has touched figure of Rs.15341 Crores.

Overall loss during the year is Rs.1533 crores.

Corporate portfolio and Group Government portfolio (Schemes like RSBY,) continue to be a loss making portfolio. Retail portfolio continues to be the segment where insurance companies have been successful in reducing the claims figures by following rigid norms. May be the decision of PSU’s to go in for strictness i.e. July 1, 2010 and strengthening of PPN has resulted in good results.

Indications are that State Governments will not increase ( as it was happening 2 years back ) their budget for schemes / subsidy. As on now we are aware of that 4 PSU’s are increasing the premium in Retail segment by 30% (during 2^nd half of 2013). Will it result in increase in Revenue or it can result in some of the clients not renewing their policies.

Health Insurance Portfolio – An Analysis

Few years back we were very enthusiastic about the growth of Health Insurance portfolio. This was especially true during 2007-08, when this portfolio grew from Rs 3210 Cr to Rs 5110 Cr. i.e by 59.20%. Let us look at the growth figures from 2006 to 2013:

% Growth of Health Insurance over the Years

Year	Amount (Rs Crores)	% Growth
2006-2007	3210	14.45
2007-2008	5110	59.20
2008-2009	6634	29.82
2009-2010	8305	25.68
2010-2011	11480	38.22
2011-2012	13184	14.84
2012-2013	15341	16.36

We have drawn graph showing the % growth YOY and, it shows that figure is fluctuating and is becoming less and less attractive as the years have passed by.

Let us try to make projections for next 6 years.

We have done this with growth rate of 12%, 20%, 30% & 60%.

If we achieve figure of 30% then the portfolio will be Rs 56960 Cr. in 2017-2018.

If some one asks me- What should be the growth with which you I will be happy?- I will say it should not be 30% gross but it should be 30% net (as we have to discount for inflation of 10% per annum in normal costs and 20% per annum in health care costs). Let us not be satisfied with meager growth of 16%- let us aim for 60%.

It means we should have growth of 60% year over year and then the figure will reach Rs 160862 crores in 2017-18

Good idea to buy Health Insurance for your support staff.

Good idea to buy Health Insurance for your support staff.

Nikhil Dwivedi has done a good thing by buying Health Insurance for his employees as well as families. He has got good appreciation for his gesture.

Times of India is leading a campaign with focus on Compassion.

“Make Compassion your passion on 28^th June” is a good theme. On that day or nay other day in the year you as an individual can do something for your support staff (Servant, Maid Servant, Driver, Mali, Gardener, Chowkidar or Guard) by giving them gift of insurance policy.

All these efforts deserve appreciation.

Insurance Foundation of India a Not for Profit Organization is doing good work in spreading the message of Insurance among masses (www.ifingo.org) and has been  making NGO’s aware of Micro Insurance & Social Insurance. Recently a Conference was held in Delhi in association with PHD Chamber of Commerce, where large number of NGO’s attended the conference.

What we have to say it

1. Nikhil Dwivedi

2. Times of India

3. Insurance Foundation of India

                

or any one who is giving Health Insurance or other insurance policy to his/her support staff deserves appreciation.

30% Increase in Health Insurance Premium

30% Increase in Health Insurance Premium 

It was anticipated for quite sometime that Health insurance Premium will go up as inflation has been affecting the costs of Insurance companies.

In next few months (second half of 2013) let us be prepared for increase in premium of the order of 30% in following companies:

New India Assurance                 August 2013

National Insurance                     October 2013

Oriental Insurance                     October 2013

United India                               June 2013

According to the Mr. N.S.R.Chandraprasad Chairman , National Insurance Company Ltd  – “ This increase is coming after 6 years as last time it was done was in 2007 “

We appreciate the increase in premium so that Health Insurance Portfolio should not be a loss making portfolio. In fact no portfolio should be a loss making portfolio.

One thing which we do not understand – why do Insurance Companies do aggressive pricing when it comes to quote for Group Health Insurance? Corrective steps are needed to control this practice so that Group Health Insurance Portfolio should also be a profit making portfolio. Claims at 125% of the premium are not acceptable.

Recently we came across a case where claims during 2012-13 were Rs.13.5 lakhs but another company picked up the business by quoting Rs.9.80 lakhs. We feel individuals / families are being penalized for this Group Business.

It is time strict steps are taken to correct this.

Mount Elizabeth Hospital Singapore

Mount Elizabeth Hospital Singapore

This great hospital has got lot of publicity in India in last 3 days (Dec. 27, 2012 to Dec. 29, 2012).

We had high hopes for recovery / treatment of first private citizen of India, who was sent for treatment on Government of India expense.

The Interesting phenomenon I came across in 3 days is that more than 60 crores persons living in India have become aware of this hospital that it is a super specialty hospital of world repute for organ transplant.

We receive many phone calls .You will find interesting case studies, which we came across in last 2 days:

Case Study 1:

Phone call received by us from a prospective client who wishes to buy Overseas Travel Insurance policy for 7days so that he can go and get treated in Mount Elizabeth under this policy.

He was rather disappointed to know that Overseas Travel Insurance policy issued by insurance companies does not cover treatment for disease which is pre-existing.

 

Case Study 2:

 

Phone call received by us from a prospective client who wishes to buy Health Insurance Policy for Rs. 2 Lakhs and wishes to go to Singapore for being treated in Mount Elizabeth.

He was surprised to know that

a)      Rs. 2 Lakhs is too small an amount for being treated in this world class hospital, where room rent for lowest single room is Rs. 30,000 or so.  We are not aware of costs for treatment. Our assumption is that it should be very high.

b)      The policies issued by all but 1 insurance company cover treatment within India. The only exception is Religare Health Insurance product where you can get treatment in an overseas hospital (Mount Elizabeth Hospital also) provided you have sum assured of either Rs. 50 Lakhs or Rs. 60 Lakhs.

We come to conclusion that:

• Those who can afford.
• Those who wish to be treated in reputed hospitals like Mount Elizabeth should go in for Religare Health Insurance policy for sum assured of Rs. 50 Lakhs / Rs. 60 Lakhs.

Otherwise let us be satisfied with our world class hospitals- Medanta, Apollo, Fortis etc.

ria@surekhae.com can be reached for details / support in this regard.

Intoxicated accidental victims have better recovery in hospitals

According to recent study of University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health – Injured patients were less likely to die in the hospital if they had alcohol in their blood and the more alcohol; the more likely they were to survive.

Dr. Lee Friedman epidemiologist who was the project head said “However, after an injury, if you are intoxicated there seems to be a pretty substantial protective effect,” “The more alcohol you have in your system, the more the protective effect.” Dr. Lee Friedman is Assistant Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at UIC in Chicago.

The project team headed by learned professor analyzed Illinois Trauma Registry data for 190,612 patients treated at trauma centers between 1995 and 2009 who were tested for blood alcohol content, which ranged from zero to 0.5 percent at the time they were admitted to the trauma unit. It is surprising that only 6,733 died in the hospital.

The study examined the relationship of alcohol dosage to in-hospital mortality following traumatic injuries such as fractures, internal injuries and open wounds. Alcohol benefited patients across the range of injuries, with burns as the only exception.

The benefit extended from the lowest blood alcohol concentration (below 0.1 percent) through the highest levels (up to 0.5 percent).

“At the higher levels of blood alcohol concentration, there was a reduction of almost 50 percent in hospital mortality rates,” Friedman said. “This protective benefit persists even after taking into account injury severity and other factors known to be strongly associated with mortality following an injury.”

The findings of this study point:

1. It’s important for clinicians to recognize intoxicated patients but also to understand how alcohol might affect the course of treatment.

2. This study is not encouraging people to drink, the good thing which we find in this study is that interesting projects are undertaken in USA.

I wonder whether any such study has been undertaken in India.

The implication of such study as for  insurance industry in India is concerned is that if a person was intoxicated and is involved in accident his hospitalization claim, claim far car damage everything may be denied.