‘TPAs must generate medical data for insurers’
EHM team - Bangalore

Medical Insurance is a growing sector and is likely to become the largest segment in the insurance sector. Citizens in India lack health cover to be offered by insurance companies. The Government of India is making efforts to broaden the concept of medical insurance, one of the fundamental areas for health protection, informed N Rangachary, chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) of India.

He was speaking at a seminar on Responsibilities and Rights of Citizen- Consumers and Insurance Companies organised by the Chennai-based Consumers Association of India (CAI) in Bangalore recently. According to Rangachary, entry into the business of medical insurance may be a difficult approach for a new company. “Few companies who started with high hopes had to withdraw when they found it difficult to sustain. He also points out that today in healthcare there is no control over doctors or paramedics or even pharmacists. “The entire concept of medical insurance suffers setback due to lack of proper medical data. So it is compulsory on part of TPAs to generate medical data and provide it to insurance companies,” Rangachary added.

Speaking on the occasion, Jagannathan, CMD of United Insurance Company said, “Poor marketing is one of the reasons for lack of growth of medical insurance in India. Attempts were made to enter into cashless system tie-ups with some hospitals which proved to be futile. With the entry of TPAs we are again exploring the same possibilities.”

Speaking on role of TPAs, P B Ramanujam, managing director, General Insurance Corporation of India, said, “Today government healthcare spending is inadequate. Service delivery is poor. Today advancement of medical sciences and cost of medicare have made health insurance necessary. Risk should be spread over a large number of people.” A face-to-face interaction with mediclaim consumers was another highlight of the day organised by the CAI.