Coronavirus has led to increased awareness about the importance of health insurance among Indians.

Coronavirus has led to increased awareness about the importance of health insurance among Indians. While, only 10 per cent of people were interested in buying health insurance to cover new age diseases in India before the Covid-19 outbreak, now now as much as 71 per cent people consider health insurance as a necessity to be future ready to fight unforeseen medical emergencies, finds Max Bupa Covid-19 survey.

The survey conducted across 11 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune, Patna, Jaipur and Chandigarh revealed that there has been a remarkable shift in the mindset of people about the need of health insurance before and after Covid-19 outbreak.

With the spread of the highly contagious virus continues unabated despite lockdowns and inflating medical costs, people have become so concerned that not only 58 per cent participants said to have made enquiries to understand coronavirus coverage, but as high as 73 per cent of the respondents are willing to pay more premium in the next 1-2 months to a Covid-19 cover.

Not only the fear that the family members may get infected and uncertainty around treatment, but the risk of job loss due to prolonged lockdown and disruption of regular income during quarantine period create so much mental anxiety that 73 per cent of the respondents said that they are more worried about high medical cost rather than expenses for children’s education and marriage, post-retirement life and wellbeing of family members. This is contrary to the pre-covid-19 period preferences of people to delay buying health insurance to meet household expenses, children’s education and even buying household products like gadgets and personal devices.

The quest to take health insurance cover against the highly contagious Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 has also brought females to the forefront, who traditionally are not vocal about financial decision making. During the early outbreak of the pandemic, as against 54 per cent males, around 62 per cent of females enquired about the coverage of Covid-19 in health plans as about 96 per cent women respondents were concerned whether the insurance plans would cover the hospitalisation expenses related to coronavirus treatment.

While Millennials (age group of 27-35) are more aware of health insurance plans, as much as 72 per cent of respondents in the age group are willing to pay more for Covid-19 coverage and are planning to purchase health insurance immediately.