The group healthcare premiums are likely to rise further. Even as life insurance premiums are easing, health insurance premiums are rising and the demand for healthcare cover is expected to increase at a staggering 25% per annum.
Practices like co-pay arrangements for meeting parental claims, customised approach to limit risk exposure and putting sub-limits on certain claims will bring in some respite to high premiums, said a survey done by Towers Watson, a global multi-practice consultancy company. The rise in healthcare premium cost is attributed to high claims to premium ratio of more than 100%, which the study has observed in 55% of the companies surveyed.
As per the survey, all respondent companies with claim costs between 125% to 150% faced premium increase to the extent of 25% to 50% this year as against only 9% last year. One of the key drivers of healthcare costs is medical advancement and technology. The survey covered 154 large employers in India, representing 120,000 employees across various industries. Nearly 60% of the participants were large companies with an annual turnover of over R400 crore.
The rise in premium is worrisome as the majority of surveyed employers have not made any provision for strategising employer-employee contribution towards premium and claims costs, claim from special hospital network only, reward/penalisation for health status, treatment with alternative medicines.
