The Hindu Business Line : ‘Health insurance penetration below national average in AP’

The overall percentage of households having health insurance in Andhra Pradesh is at 0.62 per cent which is much lower than the national average of 1.2 per cent, according to a study conducted by Max New York Life Insurance and National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

According to the survey titled ‘How Indian Earns, Spends and Saves’ conducted across 23 States, Andhra Pradesh stands in the 20th position with a health index of 0.54, which is lower than the national index score of 0.46.

The health index is calculated on the basis of the level of financial preparedness against medical expenses or unforeseen medical emergencies.

The survey also found that for an average household income of around Rs 45,372, the annual health expenses in the State was Rs 19,566, accounting for 43 per cent of household income. About 9 per cent of households had faced major sickness in the recent past, with average expenditure during such sickness reported at around Rs 16,463.

At a national level, the survey shows that 36 per cent of the Indian households keep their savings at home and 51 per cent in bank deposits. The health expenses are generally clubbed with emergencies and not addressed separately.

“A focused approach to improve awareness and financial literacy to improve protection for health problems is urgently needed today,” the survey observed. The data was collected from 342 towns and 2,000 villages across 250 districts. The sample size included 63,016 households, equally divided between rural and urban areas, according to a release.

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