Health id for Indians will help maintain personal health records digitally, experts say

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aims to develop the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country, stated Malti Jaswal, Senior Consultant, World Bank and Advisor with National Health Authority. She was speaking at the “Conference on Health Insurance 2042- Let us Plan for Ambitious Target for 2042’, organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI). 

Speaking on the aims of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), Jaswal stated, ABDM plans to create a healthcare infrastructure that will bridge the existing gap amongst different stakeholders of the healthcare ecosystem through digital highways. Touching upon the objectives of ABDM, she said that a health id for all Indian citizens --ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) -- would go a long way to maintain personal health records digitally and make them easy to access. 

Sameer Gupta, Co-Chair, Hospital & Diagnostics Committee, PHDCCI, stressed how important it is for the insurance provider to adopt the change. He stated that lots of primary healthcare services are going to be virtual down line as COVID has accelerated this even faster. It is very important for the insurance provider to understand and adapt to the change i.e. virtual health services, he said. 
S K Sethi, Co-Chair, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) Committee, PHDCCI & Founder and CEO, Insurance Foundation of India, stated that the health insurance segment, which started in the year 1985, got a boost in the year 2001 with the opening of the sector for external players. He informed that from Rs 690 crore in the year 2001, the sector has grown to Rs 73,300 crores in the year 2022 crore, a growth of around 106 times. Speaking at the event, Sethi stated that blockchain technology would help in eliminating the frauds taking place in insurance sectors to a great extent. He also touched upon the subject of mental health in the post-COVID era. 

Bhaskar Nerurkar, Head, Health Insurance, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, stressed the need of controlling the cost of treatment. He went on to say that the cost of treatment across tiers keeps changing, even in the same hospital with the same equipment and doctor the cost changes. For example, the cost of eye cataract surgery in the general ward cost Rs 45,000 whereas it cost Rs 1.75 lakhs in the prince suit. So, the line between the treatments is blurring. There has to be some regulation at the hospital too for cost reduction, he said. 

Sultan Kamruddin Badani, Deputy Head- Health & Accident Lines Business, Universal Sompo General Insurance, stressed participation from stakeholders. He said that there is a need for participation from the stakeholders to increase the awareness among the customers. Also, we need to create an ecosystem which is affordable so we can have a viable long-run system in place, he said. 

Deepak Singh CEO, and Cofounder, Tatsam, stated that the insurance company has come up with plans but still they do not recognise/cover the counsellor, therapist however they cover psychiatric. Most policy excludes challenges of mental health once it goes through and there are still some principles which are not reflected in the insurance cover. 

Steward Doss, Professor, National Insurance Academy, Pune, stated that there is a significant treatment gap in India. A lot of these issues can be resolved with insurance cover. She also stated that there is a need to encourage more people to know about mental health. 

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