Health Insurance In India

Health Insurance in India is a recent phenomenon. Two decades ago, there was no health insurance. In 1980s, the Public Sector General Insurance Companies in India introduced Health Insurance for Indian Citizens with the nomenclature "Mediclaim Insurance". Despite high levels of awareness in the masses and high cost of hospitalization, this particular insurance is still not bought but is sold by the agents. The Mediclaim Insurance covers hospitalization expenses only and where hospitalization is not possible, domiciliary hospitalization is also covered under the insurance plan to a limited extent. There is no insurance covering domiciliary treatment, which itself is becoming costlier by the day.

The high cost of Medical Education and the difficulty in getting admissions to medical colleges has resulted in the medical assistance to ordinary citizens being phenomenally high. Even a visit to a general practitioner costs anywhere from Rs.50 to Rs.250 depending on the kind of sickness. For a person with ordinary means of earning, even this becomes prohibitive and many a time people resort to self medication to avoid payment of Consultation Fee to the Doctors. The situation becomes all the more difficult when a case is referred to a Specialist, whose appointment is not easy to get and whose consultation fee can range from Rs.200 to Rs.2000 depending upon the seriousness.

At the time of independence, medical treatment was very cheap. Most of the doctors were general practitioners and they used to supply medicines also from their own clinics. Hospitalization was through government hospitals, where the treatment was either free or was very cheap. It was within the reach of an ordinary citizen with limited means of earning.

Situation has changed in that even the government hospitals now charge fees which are beyond the means of ordinary citizens.

Government's budgetary allocation to Health care is abnormally low and the medical profession has no more remained a Social service but has become a Business. In fact, a majority of good hospitals are now owned by corporates whose main aim is Profit and not alleviation of pain.

Of late, Private Insurers in General Insurance Market have come with some really good health insurance plans. But these too are not meant for poor people. The General Insurance Companies providing mediclaim insurance are restricting covers and increasing premiums every year because of unfavourable experience.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) the Govt. owned Life Insurer in India has now come out with its first-ever Health Insurance Plan. This gives hope that in near future, other life and general insurance companies will also come with innovative health insurance products which will focus on health facilities to ordinary people with limited means. Greater attention has to be paid to providing some kind of cover for domiciliary treatment.