All you need to know about the impact of rising medical inflation on health insurance premiums 8th February 2023
You must have seen people around you discussing the rise in medicines, procedures, consultation fees, and expenses. The skyrocketing prices are justified due to the increasing costs of medicinal equipment and treatments. The costs of living have been escalating every year. And while living by yourself looks economically intimidating, creating a family and raising children drives up the cost, which could be scary for a single source of income in these times.
In this blog, we will discuss all you need to know about the impact of rising medical inflation on health insurance premiums. This information will answer all your questions about how the fluctuation in the price of health insurance affects your finances. So, without any further delay, let’s get started.
1. Let’s look deeper at the term “Medical Inflation”.
Medical inflation indicates the rise in average and per unit prices of healthcare assistance. There can be various factors that can influence the increase in the cost of medical services like technological progress, increase or decrease in the number of professionals in the healthcare industry, rising demand, price of materials, transportation costs for medical equipment, and increase in the cost of usage of healthcare services per person.
2. What do you mean by “medical healthcare demand”?
With the fast-food culture gripping the roots of our lifestyles and the hectic work life, people have become addicted to stagnancy, which has caused more harm to our health than ever. Humans have become vulnerable to severe health risks like diabetes, blood pressure issues, hypertension, anxiety, depression, etc., drastically affecting our lifestyle. Therefore, the demand for medical assistance is causing medical inflation in our country.
3. What is the current medical inflation scenario in India?
The inflation in India has been on a consistent ‘single-digit’ rise. However, medical inflation is inching toward double digits, which is a matter of concern. The affordability of health treatments and services would become heavy on the pockets of people and will potentially cause a significant dent in their savings.
Hospital beds, medical staff, conveyance, etc., reported inflation of 9.4% back in 2018-2019, while the cost of medications saw inflation of 7.2% during the same period. And in 2021, there was an unimaginable increase in the inflation rate by 14%.
4. What is the expected impact of the rising medical inflation?
As discussed in the previous point about the rising medical inflation rate, there is a direct influence on health insurance premiums. In some cases, the health premiums increased up to 30%, as reported in the financial year of 2022. The demand for healthcare assistance saw a rise of almost 25%, which indicates the necessity of these services in our country. Many health insurance policyholders have increased their insurance coverage to accommodate the rising medical inflation.
It is suggested that while you purchase your insurance to cover significant procedures and surgeries, you also include minor treatments and diagnostics. As a policyholder, you must watch out for the medical inflation rates to adjust your policy and avail the provisions to expand your coverage accordingly. It would be best to always account for inflation before finalising your health insurance policy.
We hope that the insights proved helpful. To ensure that any medical emergencies in your family can be handled stress-free in the monetary aspect, you need to purchase the best health insurance policy that would cater to your needs in an optimum way and allow you to focus on the recovery of the patient and have no worries about the expenses.
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Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.