Mumbai fares worst among metro cities in a comparison of the number of households covered by health insurance in India. Only 12.4 per cent of the total households in the city are covered by health insurance, according to the National Family Health Survey 4 recently released by the Union health ministry.
Mumbai consists of 6,74,339 households but only 80,920 households have health insurance, the survey said. Chennai has recorded the highest health coverage of households under health insurance with 54 per cent success rate.
Mumbai’s poor performance in providing health coverage to its growing population has an adverse affect on their economic condition due to the heavy cost of medical services, experts said.
As per a finding of Praja, an NGO working for civil development, on an average, a family from Mumbai spends Rs 48,321 annually on medical expenses.
And when they are not covered by health insurance, families have to spend from their own pocket, which affects their economic strength.
“Owing to the heavy burden of medical expenses, many families’ economic condition goes below the poverty line,” said Milind Mhaske, project director, Praja Foundation.
Experts mainly blame lack of awareness and red tape as the reasons for fewer people taking up health insurance in the city.
“During medical emergency, many insurance companies refuse to cover everything,” said Suresh Sugathan, head, health insurance, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
“This often discourages people from opting for insurance. Also, many people think of insurance only as a way to save taxes and not a necessity,” he further added.
A similar nation-wide survey conducted by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, found that nearly 46 per cent of the surveyed people opined that insurance is expensive and 22 per cent felt they are too young to take any health insurance.
