Chapter 17

(INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH INSURANCE )

What is Healthcare ?

The word „Health‟ was derived from the word “hoelth‟, which means “soundness of the body ‟.

The Indian system of Ayurveda considered health as a delicate balance of four fluids: blood,
yellow bile, black bile and phlegm and an imbalance of these fluids causes ill health.
Susruta, the Father of Indian medicine is even credited with complex Surgeries.

World Health Organisation (WHO): Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social
wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease.

Determinants of health

a) Lifestyle factors

Lifestyle factors are mostly in the control of the individual concerned

Example:
 Exercising and eating within limits, avoiding worry and the like leading to good health; Bad
lifestyles and habits such as smoking, drug abuse, unprotected sex, no exercise and sedentary life
style.

b) Environmental factors

Safe drinking water, sanitation and nutrition are crucial to health, bad hygiene and diseases like
Malaria and Dengue are spread due to bad environmental sanitation

C) Genetic factors

Diseases may be passed on from parents to children through genes.

At an individual level, ill health can cause loss of livelihood, inability to perform daily essential
activities and push people to poverty and even commit suicide.

B. Levels of healthcare
Health care to be effective must be:
 Appropriate to the needs of the people
 Comprehensive
 Adequate
 Easily available
 Affordable
Healthcare Facilities based upon :
 Size of population
 Death rate
 Sickness rate
 Disability rate
 Social and mental health of the people
 General nutritional status of the people
 Environmental factors such as if it is a mining area or an industrial area
 The possible health care provider system e.g. heart doctors may not be readily available in a
village but may be in a district town
 How much of the health care system is likely to be used
 Socio-economic factors such as affordability

C. Types of Healthcare

1. Primary healthcare
Primary health care refers to the services offered by the    doctors, nurses and other small clinics
which are contacted first by the patient for any sickness. Primary Health care centres are set up
both by Government and private players
For example
• if a person visits a doctor for fever and the first diagnosis is indicative of Dengue fever, the
primary health care provider will prescribe some medicines but also direct the patient to get
admitted in a hospital for specialized treatment. For most of the primary care cases, the doctor
acts like a „Family Doctor‟ where all the members of the family visit the doctor for any minor
sickness.

2. Secondary healthcare

Secondary health provided by medical specialists and other health professionals who generally do
not have first contact with patient. secondary health care providers are present at the Taluk / Block
level depending upon the population size.
For example :
Intensive Care services, ambulance facilities, pathology, diagnostic and other relevant medical
services.
3. Tertiary healthcare
Tertiary Health care is specialized consultative healthcare, usually for inpatients and referral from
primary/secondary care providers. The tertiary care providers are present mostly in the state
capitals and a few at the district headquarters.
  For Example :
•Tertiary Health care providers are those who have advanced medical facilities and medical
professionals, beyond the scope of secondary health care providers e.g. Oncology (cancer
treatment), Organ Transplant facilities, High risk pregnancy specialists etc.
Factors affecting health systems in India
-Demographic or Population related trends

India is second largest populated country in the world.

This exposes us to the problems associated with population growth.

The level of poverty has also had its effect on the people‟s ability to pay for medical care.

Social trends

The move to a more sedentary lifestyle with reduced need to exercise oneself has led to newer
types of diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure.

Life expectancy

This leads to a new concept of „healthy life expectancy‟.

This also requires the creation of infrastructure for „Geriatric‟ (old age related) diseases.

E. Evolution of Health Insurance in India

How health insurance developed in India

1. Employees‘ State Insurance Scheme

Started in 1948 primarily for the blue coller employees.

All workers earning wages up to Rs. 15,000 are covered.

Employee and employer contribute 1.75% and 4.75% of pay roll respectively.

State governments contribute 12.5% of the medical expenses.

The benefits covered include:

a) Free comprehensive healthcare at ESIS facilities

b) Maternity benefit

c) Disability benefit

d) Cash compensation for loss of wages due to sickness and survivorship and

e) Funeral expenses in case of death of worker

2. Central Government Health Scheme

The ESIS was soon followed by the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) which was introduced
in 1954 for the central government employees including pensioners and their family members
working in civilian jobs. The contribution from employees is quite nominal though progressively
linked to salary scale – Rs.15 per month to Rs.150 per month. In 2010, CGHS had a membership base
of over 800,000 families representing over 3 million beneficiaries.

Commercial health insurance

In 1986, the first standardised health insurance product for individuals and their families was
launched in the Indian market by all the four nationalized non-life insurance companies (these were
then the subsidiaries of the General Insurance Corporation of India). This product, Mediclaim was
introduced to provide coverage for the hospitalisation expenses up to a certain annual limit of
indemnity with certain exclusions such as maternity, pre-existing diseases etc. It underwent several
rounds of revisions as the market evolved, the last being in 2012. Today, more than 300 health
insurance products are available in the Indian market .

F. Health Insurance Market

I. INFRASTRUCTURE:
II. INSURANCE PROVIDERS
[Link]
[Link] IMPORTANT ORGANISATIONS:

I. INFRASTRUCTURE:

1. Public health sector

•Anganwadi workers (ICDS)

•Trained Birth Attendants (TBA)
•ASHA. (Accredited Social Health Activist)
•Rural hospitals
•Speciality and teaching hospitals
•Other agencies

•Sub-centres have been established for every 5,000 population (3,000 in hilly, tribal and backward
areas)

•Primary Health Centres which are referral units for about six sub-centres have been established
for every 30,000 population .
•Community Health Centres are the first referral units for four PHCs and also provides specialist
care. According to the norms each CHC (for every 1 lakh population)

2. Private sector providers

 India also has the largest number of qualified practitioners in other systems of Medicine (Ayurveda/
Siddha/ Unani/ Homeopathy) which is over 7 lakh practitioners

3. Pharmaceutical industry

The central level price regulator for the industry is the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority
(NPPA)

B. INSURANCE PROVIDERS:

Insurance Companies especially in the general insurance sector provide the bulk of the health
insurance services. These have been listed earlier. What is most encouraging is the presence of
stand-alone health insurance companies - five as on date - with likelihood of a few more coming in
to increase the health insurance provider network.

C. INTERMEDIARIES:

Insurance Brokers

Insurance Agents

Third Party Administrators

Insurance Web Aggregators

Insurance Marketing Firms .

D. OTHERS IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONS

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)

General Insurance and Life Insurance Councils

Insurance Information Bureau of India (2009)

Educational institutions

Medical Practitioners

Legal entities such as the Insurance Ombudsman, Consumer courts