Nearly 60 per cent of patients are delaying treatments because of lack of health insurance: Pristyn Care Data Labs study

New Delhi, August 31, 2022: The National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) recently revealed that India has witnessed a marginal improvement in health insurance coverage. However even those who are insured face various challenges such as dealing with complex paperwork, delay in discharge, uncertainty about disease coverage etc. As per a study conducted by Pristyn Care Data Labs, almost 50% of patients feel that long waiting time for approvals is the biggest pain point while filing for the insurance claim. The results come from a Pristyn Care survey answered by 1,100+ respondents and insights from internal data of 4 lakh+ patient interactions around health insurance studied by Pristyn Care Data Lab.
 
Another big pain point for customers is that health insurance policies are too complex to understand. The study revealed that 67% of respondents believe that their health insurance policies are difficult to understand and don’t give a holistic view of the benefits provided. Some of the other challenges faced by patients while claiming insurance were deduction of money at the time of claiming (24%) and complex paperwork (17%). To ease the process of claiming health insurance, more than 60% Indians would opt for a third party end-to-end health insurance service provider who takes care of the hassle. With the rising costs of medical treatments in the country, as per the study shockingly nearly 60% of the respondents are delaying treatment due to the lack of any health cover.
 
India also has a rich history of alternative medicine. Treatments like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, homeopathy, naturopathy are commonly practiced in the country. According to the Pristyn Care study, a vast majority of people want these alternative treatments to be covered under health insurance. It is followed by cosmetic procedures (plastic surgery, weight loss treatments) to be covered by health insurance providers at 21%.
 
As per industry reports, 27.5 million couples in India suffer from infertility. Many doctors believe that these numbers will increase. 20% of survey respondents also believe that IVF and infertility procedures should be covered under insurance given the rising costs.
 
Commenting on the study findings, Harsimarbir Singh, co-founder at Pristyn Care said, “The patient's journey starts from buying health insurance, meeting a healthcare provider, receiving diagnosis, getting treatment, paying for the services and then claiming health insurance. Among the dozens of healthcare pain points, long waiting time for the claim approval is the biggest pain point as one vastly underestimates the costs associated with medical treatments.”
 
He further added, “India has the lowest rates of health insurance penetration and COVID-19 induced medical inflation has caused people to delay surgeries. Elective surgeries are not life-threatening but any delay can impact the overall quality of life. Regular health check-ups, cashless coverage, and the best medical facilities at the best hospitals are all benefits of having health insurance, which will keep one’s family assured. Finding the right health cover can add more healthy years to anyone’s life.”