Is COVID-19 truly behind us? Health insurance data seems to suggest so

Covid-related health insurance claims have plummeted over the two years as other ailments see a surge in hospitalisation. According to data shared by Policybazaar.com, less than 1 per cent of all claims were COVID-19 related between April 2022 to August 2022, which was 11 per cent for the same period in 2020. In 2021 the average claim size for COVID-19 cases was 10 per cent.

“After COVID-19, the ownership of health insurance has seen an uptick and so has the utilisation of health insurance policies for the treatment of COVID-19 and Non-COVID-19 ailments. While the share of COVID-19 claims has plummeted, claims for other major treatments such as infections, genitourinary, digestive, respiratory, cataract, cancer and others are on the rise. As life comes to normalcy, more people are undergoing planned treatments and surgeries that were postponed during the pandemic,” says Amit Chhabra, Head - Health Insurance, Policybazaar.com.

Numbers have come down considerably considering in September 2020, COVID-19 claims formed 40 per cent of the total health claims, which steadily increased from 8 per cent in May to 23 per cent in July to 34 per cent in August. Moreover, the average claim size of COVID-19 is Rs 80,000 against average non-COVID-19 claims of Rs 77,500 in this period. It appears that the average claim size for COVID-19-related claims is higher. This could be because most individuals needing hospitalisation were of older age with a potential risk of co-morbidities that generally increase complications and require a longer stay in the hospital. Thus, leading to a higher claim amount.

Chhabra adds, “Irrespective of the severity of COVID-19, one must have an adequate amount of health cover to safeguard themselves from the uninvited financial burden of hospital bills. One must examine their family’s needs and compare different types of health insurance plans available in the market. Depending on the medical history, age, and income of the insured, one can compare and choose from different types of health insurance plans available online.”

India registered 1,957 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday taking the total to 4,46,16,394 cases. The active cases dipped to 27,374 according to the Union health ministry data.

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