Voluntary Health Insurance in India:Trend Analysis of Public and Private Insurance Companies

Abstract

Financing healthcare is a major concern for every nation. In developed countries tax revenue and social insurance are important sources of health financing. Unfortunately, in developing economies like India, the public funding for health is low, so the economic burden of medical expenditures falls on households. In such a situation it is argued that health insurance can play an invaluable role in improving access to healthcare facilities. India's tryst with voluntary health insurance was very limited until the passing of the IRDA Act in 2000. The 21st century, witnessed a mushroom growth of private health insurance companies. The demand for these market-based health insurance policies was derived from the rising expectation of middle class for good quality healthcare. An attempt has been made in this study to examine the pattern and growth trend of premiums of companies offering health insurance in India. The CAGRs of premiums underwritten by public and private health insurance companies were calculated for the time period 2002–03 to 2015–16 and testing of trend was done. The CAGR trend was found to be highly statistically significant for most of the companies.