A US study has found that insured cancer patients live longer than the uninsured ones. Uninsured cancer patients are nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those with private coverage. The study found that people without health insurance are less likely to get recommended cancer screening tests and when these patients finally do get diagnosed, their cancer is likely to have spread. For all this, uninsured are believed to account for just a fraction of US cancer deaths. It is around 4%. The absolute figures are something like 20,000 of 560,000 annual cancer deaths are uninsured when they die. Hence, American Cancer Society is calling for action to fix holes in the health care safety net. No wonder, a major issue in the re-election of George Bush three years ago was revamping of the US healthcare system to bring in more people under insurance cover.

Compare this with our own healthcare system. Do we have anything worth the name? One only has to visit the district hospitals to see for oneself. There are any number of villages from where people can’t even think of reaching the district hospitals. And the long wait-list at All India Institute of Medical Sciences can only put you off further. Even the middle class cannot often afford the charges for major ailments at private hospitals. How about the lower middle class and those below poverty line? But then, when they can’t even feed themselves properly, do they have the right to even think about healthcare?

One wonders if health insurance is one way out. Maybe, like SEBI is doing its bit on educating the investor, IRDA has to educate the people about the benefits of health insurance. The Medical professionals themselves, the healthcare institutions and the Third Party Administrators in the insurance industry have all to be educated against possible temptation to misuse the system, so that the fledgling healthcare insurance sector in India is not obliterated in its infancy. If not administered scrupulously, the rates of premium will skyrocket and rising premium is a sure-shot prescription to shut the middle and the lower income groups out. The insurance companies will also have to be regulated effectively to ensure that they don’t treat a disease that was detected during an insured period as pre-existing for the purpose of calculating the premium while renewing the policy without a break. The insuring public will also have to be informed adequately about their own rights and obligations under the policy so that they don’t try to tempt the healthcare institutions to deviate from the norms, as that will only drive the premium northwards for all.

The burgeoning health insurance sector is set to see some far-reaching changes.

Specialized health insurance subsidiaries and allowing agents of one insurance company to sell health products of other general insurance companies are two of the major proposals.

A committee set up to look into the issue of senior citizens and the health insurance sector mooted these proposals.

The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) had, some time back, talked about the formulation of new…

GOOD times seem like they should bring good health. More people have jobs and health insurance when an economy is growing. Fewer people skip visits to the doctor to save money or suffer the severe stress that comes with a layoff. So with job growth now stronger than it has been since 2000, the country can look forward to some vigorous years, it might seem.

But that is not quite how the world works, some new research has found. In fact, a strong economy should probably come with a warn…

‘Removal of tariffs will boost insurance’ says IRDA Chairman

The healthcare industry has two concerns: insurance and removal of tariffs. Once tariffs are removed, insurance will get a boost, said C.S. Rao, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.

He was speaking at the Health Insurance Summit organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry ( CII), here today. It has also prompted the general insurer to pay attention to health insurance. Also required are discussions on p…

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) hopes to earn Rs 50 billion ($1.3 billion) in three months from its

proposed unit-linked health insurance policy. The target is much higher than the Rs 32 billion earned by all

non-life insurers last fiscal (2006-07). The corporation is waiting for clearance for the product from the

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). LIC is hoping to launch the policy by Jan 2008 and

achieve its ambitious target.

According to D…