Imagine having a black lung due to exposure to toxic air and not having health insurance coverage - both are a hard-hitting reality! In fact, don’t imagine it — for Indians living in metro cities such as Delhi or Mumbai, this is a daily reality to grapple with. The scenario is disturbingly real. This is where the role of InsurTechs becomes critical.
When Breathing becomes Tougher and Medical Costs become Higher!
Breathing problems have become a part of daily life, even for toddlers and children. No longer are winter evenings a perfect time for senior citizens to go out for walks or for children to play. It’s increasingly posing health hazards for residents in metros such as Delhi and Mumbai. Meanwhile, most Indian households and organisations have been rattled by the hard hitting reality of increasing health-insurance premiums this year.
Notably, insurers and hospitals point out the escalating healthcare related costs are also linked to the post-pandemic work scenarios that have paved the way for a number of increasing HR costs, that pertain to non-clinical staff and mostly, in corporate hospitals in metro cities, The Ken had recently reported.
For hospitals to sustain their quality of personnel and operations, it is critical to step up and not compromise on their quality of medical treatment protocols and services.
Polluted Air is Driving Higher Incidence of Lung Cancer
Recently, a doctor’s interview had gone viral on Twitter and this time, it hit really hard! Dr. Arvind Kumar, a dental surgeon, mentioned that when he had first started practicing in the year 1988, most of his patients had been in their 60s and they had pink-coloured lungs, which is a good indicator of how well it is functioning.
He observed the shift in demographics, citing that ten percent of his patients today are mostly in their 20s and 30s.
A more worrying issue the doctor has pointed out is the increasing occurrence of lung cancer in individuals in their early 30s, which is a grave health hazard, and he mentions they are mostly non-smokers with exposure to Delhi’s toxic air.
Other symptoms that are increasing among people pertain to frequent asthmatic problems, lung infections and difficulty in breathing, the doctor confirmed.
Climate Change and Air Pollution: Indians Face High Health Vulnerability
More than half of the country’s population face high health vulnerability which is solely attributed to climate change, bringing ‘green’ initiatives to the forefront of the sustainability debate.
A dismal scenario stems from the latest insights from the National Insurance Academy clearly pointing out that health insurance in India needs to ramp up. Nearly 73 percent of the country’s population lacks health insurance coverage, which poses grave concerns. At a time when Covid variants are being reported across the country, health and life insurance are essential for Indian households and organisations.
While the universal aspects of climate change differ geographically, and the vulnerabilities also differ, the need for streamlining adaptation and mitigation strategies need to be more streamlined. Let’s dive into an actual scenario to understand how insurers from other countries tackle such situations.
How Global Insurers tackle Extreme Crises
From a global standpoint, let’s take a look at how extreme weather-related crises are addressed by insurers. The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) had commissioned Deloitte to provide a detailed account of how insurers had addressed the largest weather event that Australia had witnessed.
The report reviewed eight insurers that managed 99% of all motor, home, small business claims in New South Wales and Queensland for the months of February and March 2022. It also tested insurers' claims processes, following which it skimmed and probed certain vulnerabilities pertaining to processes, catastrophe planning, resourcing, among other things. It found that claim closure rates also tended to differ between insurers based on factors such as event exposure, policy definition and so on.
Proposing solutions to bridge such gaps, the report recommended seven specific improvement areas, few of which are listed below:
Insurers need to enhance catastrophe planning for extreme weather events
Operational efficiency in catastrophes need to be stepped up through proper processes, tech and infra investments
Coordination with the government and insurance industry stakeholders is essential to understand the impact of both internal and external factors
Interestingly, the ICA accepted all seven areas of improvement that were outlined in the Deloitte report.
Sustainability Debate Needs More Action
Once again, the climate crisis too calls for a more rigorous approach to the sustainability debate in the insurance ecosystem. Most importantly, there needs to be a more constructive engagement between the healthcare segment and the insurance segment to craft a clear plan of action. This should be one that empowers more Indian households to address their coverage requirements while new strides are made in sustaining the long term climate and health agenda.
At this critical juncture, when India’s path breaking UPI has crossed around 8,572 crore transactions in the current financial year as of December 2023, the spotlight is on how technology empowers financial decision making and expedites transactions instantly.
Most importantly, in the context of insurance, the role of leading InsurTechs such as Zopper in leveraging technology and bridging the protection gap is noteworthy as several innovative and embedded solutions are already taking shape.
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