Nearly four out of 10 Indians who purchase health insurance online prefer a minimum cover of INR500,000 ($6,800), a study by the Product and Innovation Centre (PIC) of Policybazaar.com has revealed. The study took into account the buying behaviour of more than 10,000 consumers purchasing health insurance online across 20 states.

The study also indicated that if Indian consumers buy less or more cover, then they have a preference for cover of INR300,000 or INR1m. While nearly 22% of consumers surveyed opted for the INR300,000 cover, more than 12% of the surveyed group chose cover of INR1m.

In terms of age-related findings, the study indicated that consumers in the age bracket of 26-45 years are the ones who are most active online in health insurance purchases, with nearly 75% of the survey audience belonging to this group, while 12% of the online sales were attributed to people between the ages of 45-60 year bracket.

"Healthcare costs are rising at an astronomical rate. Today, any lifestyle disease treatment costs anywhere between INR300,000-1m in a decent private hospital in the urban areas. As such, what was a INR200,000 average health cover bought 2-3 years back has become a INR500,000 cover today," said head of (PIC), Policybazaar.com, Mr Vaidyanathan Ramani.

"With growing awareness around the need for having a health cover and understanding of the existing treatment costs in hospitals, we expect the Indian consumer to opt for an even bigger umbrella to ensure a better protection for their family over the next few years," added Mr Ramani.

Another major finding of the study revealed that Delhi-National Capital Region consumers are the most active online, with nearly 25% of the purchases made by them in the overall digital health insurance landscape. Maharashtra came a close second, with almost 20% market share in health insurance purchases online. Other states featuring in the top five were Karnataka, 8%; Uttar Pradesh, 7%; and Gujarat, 5%.