Choice do i need health insurance

A majority of Indians did not have health insurance as of 2017-18. Coverage levels varied widely based on ‘wealth classes’. The poorest were the least covered as they mostly depended on government schemes, while the richest fared better and relied more on private insuranceAbysmal coverageAmong the poorest households, 90% did not have health insurance. While richer households fared better, coverage among them was still poor (67% of urban households lacked insurance). The table shows the % of households without health insurance across wealth classes (from poorest 20%: 1 to the richest 20%: 5)How many are not covered? image/svg+xml  Insurance sourceOf those with health insurance, most were dependent on government schemes. The only exceptions were the richest urban households who used private insurance the most. With just 9.6% coverage, the urban poor were the worst affected. In urban areas, workers in both government and private sectors were covered by their … [Read more...] about Data: How is lack of health insurance affecting the poorest in India

Make a fresh start to this New Year with an appropriate insurance policy Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com If you are thinking of taking a resolution this New Year, then a review of your insurance policies can be the best option. Need of insurance review Situation and need never remain constant. They keep changing and that’s why updating your insurance policies, according to your changing need and situation is very much necessary to get the maximum benefit from them. Imagine your situation at the start of this year (2016) and compare it with your current situation; many circumstances and obligation must have changed in this one year span. You can imagine that the conditions which you analysed while buying the policy at that time are now, not the same. With advancement in time, our responsibilities also increase, which can only be fulfilled if we maintain the pace of change in life. Thus, it becomes necessary to keep updating your policy according to your current status and … [Read more...] about The best New Year resolution: Review your insurance policies

The dream of providing universal health coverage (UHC) has never been as close to reality as it is now. As we mark the UHC Day, let us acknowledge that India needs UHC.The World Health Organization defines UHC as ensuring that all people have access to needed health services (preventive, curative, palliative and rehabilitative) of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship. The UHC does not necessarily mean free health services, but ensuring access to affordable health services of adequate quality. People should not be exposed to catastrophic health expenditures. Ideally, health care costs should not be paid for out-of-pocket by users at the time of seeking services, but through a prepayment mechanism or tax revenues.Contrary to this vision, about 60 million Indians fall into poverty annually due to expenditure on health. Out of pocket spending by families currently comprises over 60% of health … [Read more...] about The challenging quest for universal health coverage | Opinion

     Next Anil Rego The last thing on your mind at the beginning of a new financial year is planning for your health hazards, but then, couldn't the need for it arise for anyone, at any time? Often the insurance plan from your employer will take care of the hospitalisation expenses. However, there are other expenses of 'out patient' nature that you and your family need to plan for during the year. For out patient expenses These days, the stress levels are so high and the environment so full of possibilities as far as infections are concerned that there are bound to be those niggling problems that everyone has to live with on a daily basis. Often excessive stress brings some of these problems to the forefront and one may need to make a visit to the doctor and pop a pill or two. If you were to go back and look at these bills, they would run up to a sizeable amount for a year, hence it makes sense to plan for the same. Set aside a small per cent of your net … [Read more...] about How to hedge your risks against health hazards

        A parliamentary panel, in a crucial report on the state of cancer treatment in India, has described the cancer-care infrastructure in the country as “highly inadequate”, and asked the government to throw its weight behind a pan-India “hub and spoke” model on the lines of the one used by the country’s premier cancer hospital and research facility, Tata Memorial Centre (TMC).Parliament’s science and technology panel — in the first report of all the panels of the current Lok Sabha — has also recommended that the government should have a “robust mechanism to check the prices” of cancer medicines, and “tie up with various firms for CSR funding” for knowledge sharing and technology transfer. HT has accessed the report that panel chairman Jairam Ramesh submitted to Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu on Monday.The panel has observed that the “existing cancer care infrastructure in … [Read more...] about Cancer infra in India ‘highly inadequate’, needs a hub-spoke model: Panel