According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the health insurance sector has witnessed an impressive growth of more than 20 percent in its premium collection for the third year in a row.
General and health insurance companies collected a mammoth amount of INR 37,029 crore in the fiscal year 2017-18 as a premium and registered a growth of 21.8 percent over 2016-17, said by IRDAI.
Out of the all premium amount-group business accounted for 48 percent of the premium followed by individual segment at 41 percent and government business at 11 percent.
In the year 2017-18, general and health insurance companies had sold approx. 1.47 crore health policies excluding personal insurance and travel insurance policies. And, cover approx.48.20 crore lives which are 10% higher than the lives covered in the policies in its previous year. Almost 75 percent of those policies are covered by government-sponsored health insurance schemes and the remaining was taken by groups or individuals across the length and breadth of the country.
Further, in all three classes of business, there has been a significant improvement has been observed in incurred claim ratio (ICR) in FY2017-18.
The IRDAI observed that the private sector general insurers have increased its market share from 19 percent in 2016-17 to 21 percent in 2017-18. While the share of standalone health insurers surged from 18 percent in 2016-17 to 21 percent in 2017-18.
Out of the six standalone health insurers, three reported profits while three reported losses in the fiscal year 2017-18, said sources close to IRDAI.
Health Insurance Sector Witnessed a Quantum Rise of 20 Percent for Third Time in a Row
