Expertspeak: Customised packages here to stay

AS THE FASTEST-growing insurance segment today, health insurance is expected to increase its share manifold in the coming years. Since privatisation, private and public insurance companies have been offering a gamut of health insurance products that cater to the ever-evolving needs of the Indian population. However, like any other financial product, one size does not fit all and plain vanilla health insurance policies are not sufficient to meet the needs of the vast Indian population. Customisation is a trend that is here to stay. Health insurers are surging ahead to meet this need and are developing customer friendly products, services and processes that aim to make health plans simpler and easy to use.

Apart from covering standard health care expenses, customisation will include development of health insurance policies that address specific ailments that people are battling with, as a result of today’s changing lifestyles. Hospitalisation and OPD expenses for diabetes, cancer, kidney diseases, non-communicable ailments such as dengue, typhoid, etc. would also be covered, in order for health insurance to be most effective in its use.

Coupled with simple, customised products, insurers also need to uncomplicate the process of purchasing health insurance. Technology will be key here. For long, consumers have been wary of health insurance policies which are full of lengthy and complicated processes and terminology. For health insurance to succeed, penetration is essential and hence the purchase and claims processes must be made simple and easy to use by all. As an industry, we must find a way to create digital applications that help in making all processes paperless—right from pre-policy checkups to buying policies to claims settlement.

Going forward, the proliferation of technology across population segments and geographies will create a paradigm shift and play a significant role in enabling real-time data sharing between claims facilitators and providers. This could open doors for creation of a data highway where each customer, provider and claims facilitator can work in tandem for faster decision-making.

The government is keen to ensure everyone is covered by some form of health insurance. In order to produce coverage for all segments of the population, a partnership between the public and private sector insurers and healthcare industry is essential. The industry’s expertise and government’s wide reach can ensure that a large chunk of the population is brought into the insurance coverage bracket.

The most imperative action at this stage for health insurers is to identify products and services that will suit customers’ insurance needs and win their confidence. The nature of the product demands that health insurers develop communication tools to create long-lasting relationships with customers.