Irdai chief pitches for disease-specific products

Irdai chairman Subhash C Khuntia on Thursday urged insurance companies to develop more disease-specific products, and go to semi-urban and rural areas.

While speaking at the 14th Health Insurance Summit 2020, organised by CII, Khuntia said there is a vast opportunity in small towns and rural areas, but many insurance companies are still focusing on metro cities and competing with the same segment of the population.

“Pandemic situation had increased the awareness about the role of the health insurance in the country and in the first six months of the current financial year, the health insurance sector has seen growth of 13.4% compared to same period of last year. We have found that large proportion of the health insurance is bought by the age group between 40-50 years. But to ensure the success of the health insurance sector, I would urge insurers to catch the people when they are young,” added Khuntia.