Rural India And Health Insurance

                           

The Indian sub-continent has most of its population surviving in rural areas. In India, over 70% of men and women in the country are in non-urban areas, this is a massive market. A market that till now has not been tapped by the insurance industry as heavily as it ought to be. Even so, in recent years with the downturn in the market and a drop in investments from the urban areas, insurance companies have begun to commit more heavily into circumventing through to the public in the rural sector. Now they sell everything from automobile to health care insurance.

Health attention is essentially the right of every citizen, but as a result of lack of good structure, insufficient access to medication and medical facilities and a dearth of good medical professionals, over 60 per cent of the population in India cannot avail of good health care. The entire 60% is made up of individuals from rural sector where medical facilities are laughable. Even so, a number of NGO's and the Government, have begun to set up medical facilities in areas which may have none, making sure the professionals hired and the apparatus used is the best that it can be.

Even with these attempts, three-fifth of all countryside residents needs to travel more than 5 kilometers in order to gain use of good medical attention. Due to the not enough public sector health facilities, most patients now go to private practices to be able to receive treatment. In a study conducted in 2012, it was learned that 61% coming from all country patients chose to go to private health health care providers.

Drawback to the private care is that these facilities are almost 2 to 9 times more expensive than general public facilities. In fact people that require to contend with chronic illnesses spend almost 44% with their regular monthly income at private medical facilities for treatment with their ailment. An IMS study points out that another major factor in driving people to private practices is the shortage of good transportation and travel infrastructure in the rural areas. Which means that people need to choose facilities that are closer somewhat than those that will be more cost effect.

Considering these facts, it becomes clear that each health insurance and health plans would venture a long way in easing the duty of the rural household. If perhaps insurance companies can appreciate the difficulties they have, they can create plans that can prove attracting the market while still maintaining some margin for profit. Considering that 44% of household income is currently being invested in medical expenses, paying anything less even 20% or 25% towards premiums would demonstrate a boon, as it would care for the staying medical costs.

Health insurance could grow exponentially if they discover a way to tap into this market. All it would require is for the companies to be prepared to spend time in instructing the individuals as to the benefits associated with having a health plan in place. Once the consumers ponder the pros and downsides, the Medical claim market will have a place in the rural sector.