Apollo DKV to offer health cover for Indian pros abroad

MUMBAI: Apollo DKV Health Insurance has plans to introduce a long-term international health cover for Indian workers on overseas assignment. At present, overseas mediclaim, which is valid for six months, is the only alternative to expensive health insurance abroad.

The specialised health insurance company, which commenced operations earlier this year, is planning to segment the health insurance market depending on the health of the proposer.

For healthy policyholders, the company plans to make them a part of a wellness programme where the objective would be to prevent ailments through diagnostics and advice for a healthy lifestyle.

For those who are already ailing, the plan is to have a disease-management programme to ensure that things do not get worse. Apollo DKV is a joint venture between the Apollo Hospital group and DKV, a part of the German Munich Re group.

Speaking to ET, Apollo DKV Health Insurance chief marketing officer C Chandra Shekhar said the company���s approach was different from that of other health insurance providers. ���For two-and-a-half decades, the standard mediclaim cover has been the mainstay of health insurance coverage in India. It is only now that we are seeing some innovation.���

He added the company aimed to be one of the drivers of innovation in health insurance. ���We plan to integrate health insurance, healthcare delivery and disease management,��� said Mr Chandra Shekhar. He added the objective of the company was to eventually get into providing support for outpatient treatment, which, according to him, was the ���holy grail of long-term health care���.

According to Mr Chandra Shekhar, the health insurance business was expected to grow four-fold to Rs 20,000 crore by 2015. Apollo DKV was looking at a marketshare of around 10-12% of the health insurance market.

The policies would be sold through its agency force which would be increased from the present level of 5,000 to 50,000. ���At present, the market for health insurance is around 300 million, of which, over 50 million are insured. ���The uninsured 250-million middle class is a clear opportunity for us,��� he said.

The company, which has started operations with a paid-up capital of Rs 101 crore, expects to break even in 7-8 years��� time. The company began operations in early 2008, and had, until March, sold policies generating a premium of close to Rs 2 crore. Since then, the company has sold group and individual policies worth over Rs 10 crore.
Among the products in the pipeline were a domestic travel insurance plan which would cover the cost of medical evacuation.