Star Health and CSC partner to make health insurance accessible in rural India

Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd., one of the leading standalone health insurance companies in the country, and Common Services Centers (CSC), under Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, have partnered to provide over 5 lakh CSCs access to a select range of Star Health insurance products, specially designed to meet the needs of rural customers, across tier-II, tier-III cities and rural markets pan India.
 
The CSCs will provide a host of special features to the rural customers, including a large bouquet of e-services though a single delivery platform, localized help-desk support, and sustainability of VLEs through a maximum commission sharing model of operation.
 
A self-sustaining network of over 5 lakh CSCs in Gram Panchayats that are managed by Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) will enable easy access to health insurance products at the last mile. Through its network, CSC will offer a series of beneficial products for the rural markets like Family Health Optima Insurance Plan, Accidental Care Individual Policy, Star Micro Rural and Farmers Care, and other such products to meet the health insurance needs in these regions.
 
Anand Roy, Managing Director at Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd., said "As health insurance specialists, we’ve always been at the forefront in identifying opportunities and designing health insurance products that benefit the masses. This tie - up with CSC is a huge step towards our endeavour of providing easy access and more choice of health insurance products that meet specific needs of the people in rural India. CSC’s robust network and presence across India makes them an ideal distribution partner for this initiative.”
 
Commenting on the tie-up, Sanjay Kumar Rakesh, CEO, CSC SPV said, “In rural and underserved areas, there is lack of awareness on health insurance products. Large number of Indians are not covered by any government or private health insurance schemes. Out of pocket expenditure on health is a major reason for relapsing into poverty for many families in the country. Through our partnership with Star Health, we will work towards increasing insurance awareness and penetration by encouraging rural communities to invest in health insurance for their financial security.”
 
This tie-up is a step towards increasing health insurance penetration in rural India. Concurrently, the added distribution network will help Star Health expand its market share and strengthen its presence across the country.