New Delhi, 26 March (H.S.):

India’s health insurance sector has reported a robust annual growth rate of around 9 per cent, with total premiums for the financial year 2024‑25 crossing ₹1.2 lakh crore. The rise reflects strengthening demand for medical coverage, greater awareness and more comprehensive products offered by insurers.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has introduced time-bound norms to improve the efficiency of health insurance claims and ensure timely support for policyholders. IRDAI has set specific timelines for processing cashless health insurance claims, aiming to make settlements faster and fairer for patients and hospitals alike.

Under the new framework, pre‑authorisation for cashless treatment should be issued within one hour, while final authorisation must be completed within three hours. The objective is to minimise delays and ensure that patients receive medical care without unnecessary administrative holdups. The ministry said these time limits and other regulatory measures are designed to enhance transparency, speed and reliability in claim settlement mechanisms.

The Finance Ministry also noted that the rising premium is being driven by factors such as an ageing policyholder base, higher sum insured, and policies with broader coverage and better benefits. For FY 2022‑23 the claims settlement ratio stood at 85.66 per cent, improving to 87.50 per cent in FY 2024‑25 after being 82.46 per cent in FY 2023‑24, indicating a steady improvement in the industry’s ability to honour valid claims.

In addition, data from IRDAI’s “Insurance Samadhan” (Insurance Sahayta) grievance portal show that 1,37,361 complaints related to general and health insurance were registered during FY 2024‑25. Of these, 1,27,755 (about 93 per cent) were resolved within the same financial year, underscoring a sharp improvement in complaint redressal and policyholder service in the sector.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar