Health Insurance Vision 2025: Insuring Lives of Billion Indians

Globally, countries are progressing towards Universal health coverage as laid down under UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, health insurance in India is highly underpenetrated at just ~35% of the population. The high out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure is taking a heavy toll and pushing 4% of population below poverty line every year. Further, the havoc created by COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the need for universal health insurance coverage.

In this joint CII-BCG publication, a bold vision of insuring health of billion Indians by 2025 has been set and imperatives for the same have been laid out. Given the huge disparity in means and needs of Indian population, it is critical to follow a structured approach with tailored set of imperatives for different population segments. Hence, a consumer research has been done across demographic segments to understand key issues hindering adoption of health insurance and gaps in existing health insurance offerings. The report highlights the need to build awareness through large-scale campaigns, curate comprehensive product portfolio catering to different segments, improve attractiveness by driving better outcomes and lower costs, build distribution muscle for last mile access, and leverage technology and data to improve efficiency of underlying healthcare and insurance infrastructure.

The report is aimed at stimulating discussion across the industry stakeholders to collaborate and expedite the achievement of health insurance vision.