April 20, 2016
With diabetes affecting over 100 million or nearly 8% of the Indian population, Mumbai and the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) lead in the number of diabetes-related health insurance claims in the country, according to a survey. .
Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Vadodara and Madurai constituted the remaining top 10 cities in terms of diabetes-related claims. These top 10 cities accounted for 62% of total diabetes-related health insurance claims, reported The Economic Times citing data from private-sector insurers. One reason is that the majority of these cities also rank among India’s most populous metropolises. Data from the insurers highlight several diabetes-related trends, particularly in those aged below 25. A report by ICICI Lombard shows that while most of the diabetes-related health insurance claims were previously made by people over the age of 60 years, over the last few years, youths under the age of 25 have also become claimants to such health cover.
Mr Ashish Mehrotra, Managing Director and CEO of Max Bupa Health Insurance, said: “The more serious concern of diabetes is among the below-25 age group, in which we have noticed a 22% increase in claims.” This increase was noted over the last five years. Max Bupa also said that while an average diabetes-related claim it handled amounted to INR53,739 (US$809) in 2014, last year the figure reached INR60,838. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance said it observed a 12.5% rise in the number of claims related to diabetes, with the highest claims being reported from those aged 56-65 years (30%) and 46-55 years (27%). The company also saw 5% of the overall diabetes-related claims coming from those aged below 25. In addition, there has been a 25% rise in the number of diabetes-related claims from the 25-35 age group and a 12% rise in claims from those aged 35-45.