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Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Ltd. said though patients’ average length of stay in hospitals has come down since 2008, the average medical insurance claim size has grown four times.
With rapid medical advancements, patients have seen a reduction in the average length of stay in hospitals by up to 20 per cent since 2008. However, the average claim size has seen a four-fold jump, indicating significant medical inflation and the increasing cost of sophisticated equipment and treatment.
During its Q3FY24 earnings call, the management indicated that medical inflation remained high as far as the overall industry was concerned. But Star Health was managing it through efficient claims and network management.
The company is likely to effect a price increase for some of the products in the next few months. “We periodically review product pricing subject to various market conditions,” the company told businessline.
1 crore plus claims
Meanwhile, the Chennai-headquartered Star Health has become the first standalone health insurance company to achieve the milestone of settling more than 1 crore claims since its inception in 2006. During this period, the company has disbursed more than ₹44,000 crore in claim payments, covering both cashless and reimbursement claims across the country.
More than 70 per cent of our customer claims were settled through our strong network of more than 14,200 empanelled hospitals. The company has a claim settlement team of over 580 medical experts from across specialisations.
Maharashtra accounted for the majority of the claims, followed by Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Delhi.
“The journey from an unknown start-up insurance company to becoming the largest standalone health insurer in India has been exhilarating. This landmark accomplishment underscores our commitment towards our valued customers and bolsters our position as their preferred health insurance partner,” said Anand Roy, MD and CEO of Star Health Insurance.
In the total claims settled over these years, 14 per cent of the claims were paid to senior citizens, 61 per cent to other adults, and 25 per cent of the total claims outgo were towards children. Fever and infectious diseases were the most prominent reasons for claims, amounting to 20 per cent of the total number of claims paid. Claims arising for general medicine, gastroenterology, and orthopaedics were also sizeable, said the company.
Market share
The pan-India standalone health insurer holds a market share of 33 per cent in retail health insurance, which is more than 3x the second-largest player in the industry.
During the nine months of this fiscal, the company’s gross written premium (GWP) stood at ₹10,286 crore, an 18 per cent increase over ₹8,753 crore in the same period a year ago. Its share of GWP was close to 46 per cent of the entire standalone health insurance industry.
The company’s shares closed at ₹553.95 apiece, down 0.64 per cent on the BSE on Tuesday.
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