How to make health insurance cheaper

Health insurance is very important for the protection of health. After the Corona epidemic, people have understood the importance of this insurance very well. Still, 43 percent people in the country have not bought health insurance. It is true that in the last two years, the premium of health insurance has become expensive by about 40 percent. It is understandable to not buy this insurance due to inflation, but there are some reasons which are shocking.

According to a survey by Policy Bazar, people are not buying health insurance due to the expensive premium and complexity of the policy. Nineteen percent of the people involved in the survey say that they do not understand how the health insurance policy works. These people did not buy this insurance because of the complications of the policy. Experts believe that if the government and insurance regulator IRDA together take some basic steps, then health insurance can become cheaper to a great extent.

What is the status
According to the National Health Profile-2021, on an average, people have to pay more than 80 percent of the expenses from their own pockets on hospitalisation. This is called ‘out of pocket’ medical expenses. The report of the World Health Organization states that due to such medical expenses, more than 50 million people in India become poor every year. Every year, 8-9 percent people go below the poverty line due to the increasing expenditure on health in the households.

Cover issue
New policies are being launched by health insurance companies. But it becomes difficult to choose the right one. In this insurance, first of all people see the facility of OPD cover. In a policy with a cover of Rs 1-2 lakh, the expenses for OPD and hospital check-up are not included. In such a situation, people think that OPD expenses are not being covered, so why buy this insurance? Most of these people are not able to comprehend that they may suffer from a serious disease someday. Similarly, when buying a new policy, the treatment of some diseases is not covered at that time. There are many diseases which are covered only after one to two years.

Some companies sell some policies which do not cover the room rent of the hospital in full. A part of this has to be paid by the customer from his pocket. Common people only discuss about buying a general policy. There are many such conditions attached to it that you will have to pay a part of the total cost of the treatment from your own pocket. Because of this people hold back from buying the policy.

How to ease the concerns
Personal finance expert Jitendra Solanki says that the inflation of health insurance in the country is about three times higher than the normal. Because of this, the premium is increasing. Insurance companies will not cut premium due to increase in cost. In such a situation, the government will have to reduce the cost of treatment in private hospitals. Companies promote selling health insurance only through their agents. The agent’s commission of up to 20 percent is included in this premium, due to which this insurance becomes expensive. Like term insurance, health insurance should also be made available online. Along with this, the publicity of standard policy like Arogya Sanjeevani should be increased. In this way health care can become affordable for the common people.