Online published on 28 February, 2020.
India is world's third largest economy in terms of its Gross National Income (in PPP terms) and has the potential to grow larger and more equitably, and to emerge to be counted as one of the developed nations of the world. India today possesses as never before, a sophisticated arsenal of interventions, technologies and knowledge required for providing health care to her people. On the face of it, much of the ill health, disease, premature death, and suffering we see on such a large scale are needless, given the availability of effective and affordable interventions for prevention and treatment. Health Insurance is an insurance against the vagaries of unforeseen heath expenses. The insurer pays the medical and surgical expenses that are incurred by the insured. Health Insurance can either reimburse the Insured for expenses incurred from illness or injury or pay the care provider directly Health Insurance has been an integral part of Govt's health policy. There is a large segment of people who are below poverty line and can't really affordthe healthcare costfortertiary service. Govt. providesprimary healthcare though the PHCs, District Hospitals, Medical Colleges and Researchcentres. In this context Health Insurance is a great succour and can be used to finance healthcare cost. Necessary action to promote Health Insurance can be made only after we get to know the level of satisfaction of customers who have taken the service and what is their opinion/feedback on such service. The objectives of the study is to Understand if customers are generally aware about the terms and conditions of Health Insurance, find out the primary reasons for which customers buy Health Insurance, measure the level of satisfaction of Health Insurance customers. The three key variables that can increase Health Insurance Market penetration are Awareness about Health Insurance products available in the market, Increased Satisfaction of Insured customers and Spread of positive word of mouth about the utility and essentiality of Health Insurance by the Insured customers and other stake holders among the people who are yet to take Health Insurance. Other stake holders include Insurance companies, TPAs, IRDAI, Consumer Forums, Healthcare providers etc. Higher Market penetration will lead to lower Out of Pocket (OOP) expenses for Insurance beneficiaries and Lower Incurred Ratio (ICR) for the Insurance Companies. This is a descriptive and analytical research which will delve into three broad areas of Health Insurance namely Awareness, Satisfaction and Advocacy. Quantitative Research method will be followed for data collection and any data analysis. Percentage table/cross tables, StandardDeviation, Chi Square and Two-wayAnova was used for data analysis and test of significance. Based on the literature review, the following variables have been considered for the research. 1. Demographic: Gender, Age, Income, Education, andType of Employment 2. Psychographic: Awareness, Value for Money, Affordability, and Satisfaction. 3. Behavioural: Advocacy and Opinion. Quantitative Research method will be used to collect data and analyse data. A combination of Questionnaire and Interview Schedule will be used to collect data from 400 respondents who have taken either Public or Private health insurance coverage. Many of the respondents, particularly those in BPL segment, may not be literate enough to completely understand the questionnaire and fill them. The sample size is 400 and snowball sampling is used for this survey. The major findings from this research work are: That the beneficiaries who have taken State sponsored Health Insurance are more satisfied, than those who have taken Private Commercial Health Insurance) Insured people are generally aware about the terms and conditions of the Health Insurance Majority of the Insured people, who have been hospitalized and have availed of health insurance at least once, opined that they found the process either very easy or easy. In this research, the respondents are residents of two urban cities. The outlook of people in semi-urban and urban areas may be different. There is abundant scope to look at the response of people in rural areas as well. The researcher concluded that the Insurance Company has to fine tune their business operation by availing economy of scale. Employing for sales staffs, partnering with more corporate agents and more visible online presence can increase the volume of customer acquisition. It is noticed that people in the higher income bracket buy Health Insurance to save tax and consider financial protection as a secondary benefit. The primary reason for which one buys Health Insurance should be to hedge oneself and the family from unforeseen hospitalization and healthcarecost. Income tax benefitsshould be incidental andshould not be the majordriven for buying Health Insurance. The reason for this is that people are reminded about their tax liabilities and to reduce that they are more likely t buy Health Insurance during Jan-Mar than in other three quarters of the year. It terms of public policy, the government must embark on full universalization of health care, make it a fundamental right of every citizen and his eligible family members to harness reasonable healthcare at affordable cost. As Jeffrey Sachs aptly observes “Our greatest illusion is that a healthy society can be organized by mindless pursuit of wealth”.
