A majority of women are not covered by health insurance reveals a survey conducted by ICICI Lombard General Insurance.
According to the survey only 39 per cent were covered by health insurance and among those who were not covered, 53 per cent had never thought about the same.
To gauge women’s awareness and attitude towards health, an online survey was conducted in February 2015 by ICICI Lombard General Insurance. The survey captured responses from 1,009 women respondents, the company said in a release issued today.
The survey also revealed that the Indian woman, though trying to develop her own identity, prefers to put her family first as accepted by 40 per cent of the respondents. In this priority tussle, she neglects her health, avoiding health check-ups. This was clear from the response of 79 per cent of the women respondents who didn’t go for any tests or went for health check-ups only if unwell. This was despite 71 per cent of them succumbing to illness at least once or twice in a year.
This pattern is also corroborated by ICICI Lombard’s claims data analysis for 2013 and 2014 which shows that women are prone to and increasingly succumbing to chronic ailments such as arthritis, anaemia, metabolic disorders, and cancer compared to men.
Sanjay Datta, Chief-Underwriting & Claims, ICICI Lombard said, “It is an irony that despite playing multiple roles, women ignore their own health and well-being. In fact, the multi-responsibility avatar is precisely the reason why they should ensure good health for themselves."