Health Of The Nation

With each passing day, managing risk is becoming increasingly critical. One of the most important and widely used tools of managing risk is insurance. Hence, today we see availability of insurance for almost everything from life, health, home, automobile, climate mitigation, electronic gadgets, data, travel, among host of other everyday things. While the most widely used insurance products are based on the principles of risk transfer to a third party or an underwriter for a premium, the oldest form of insurance is based on redistribution or risk sharing. It is known as Mutual or Cooperative insurance where a group of people come together to support one another through a mutual contribution. In case of insurance through a joint stock company, the insurer charges a premium to provide a risk coverage to the insured for a pre-defined event. In case of the occurrence of that event, the insurer pays the sum assured. If the said event doesn’t occur, the insurer gets to retain the premium. I...

  With the insurance protection gap among the highest in Asia, Indians are vulnerable to health and economic shocks. The insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) estimates the protection gap to be around USD 400 billion. While India is a lower-middle-income country (LMIC), it's spending on healthcare is lesser than in lower-income countries. As of 2019, the penetration of non-life insurance is a mere 0.94 percent of the GDP and the density is USD19, which is far lower than its Asian peers. Covid-19 has brought attention and urgency to healthcare and health insurance, both among the public and the policymakers alike. India will need to rapidly increase the scale and penetration of insurance to achieve sizeable insurance coverage commensurate to its growing economy. While the technology has enabled newer models of distribution and increased the reach but similar progress is lacking in capital infusion in insurance firms, newer product development, and actuarial...

Amidst all the gloom and doom news of Covid-19 wave raging across the country and people gasping for oxygen, here is a breadth of fresh air. Rajasthan, the desert state in the western part of the country launched a Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scheme for all residents of the state. Announced in the budget speech for FY22 presented by chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who also holds the Finance portfolio, the state will offer cashless medical insurance of up to Rs.5,00,000/- to all families in the state. According to estimates, the population of Rajasthan is little over eight crores. The state has allocated Rs.3,500/- crores for the Mukhyamantri Chirajeevi Yojana, the official name of the scheme. The scheme comes into effect from 1 st May 2021 and the following categories are eligible by default: Socio Economic Class Census (SECC) 2011 Registered families, National Food Security Act (NFSA) Card Holders, Small/Marginal Farmers, Contractual Workers. The scheme is completely free of cost to...