Right to health care basic right: Governor
HYDERABAD: Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan has called for increased awareness on health insurance for all, and urged companies offering health insurance to simplify procedures and offer improved services to the people.
The Governor, addressing a summit, ‘Health Insurance Vision 2030 — Quality and Affordable Health For All,’ organized by the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Friday, stressed the importance of having health insured, saying: “The right to have medical healthcare is a basic right of every citizen. As a doctor I have seen many patients lose their lives for want of a few thousand rupees. Even the well-educated say nothing will happen to them. Talking about ill health itself is inauspicious, people think.”
“People should think of health insurance as a form of saving, as saving one’s life. This is especially true for women who sacrifice their health for their families,” she said. “Everyone, on the occasion of their birthday, should get a master health check-up done,” she added.
During the peak of the Covid pandemic, she said she saw health insurance companies refusing to service patients; the companies claimed that something that the patients suffered with as a result of Covid-19 was not covered by the policies, she said.
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) member S.N. Rajeswari said the goal was to ensure every citizen has a basic life, health and property cover. The growth of the insurance industry was directly linked to the growth of the economy. The industry registered a double-digit growth during the pandemic clocking a 24 per cent rise worth Rs. 82,000 crore in premia.
She said public awareness on the need for insurance was not much before the pandemic but had increased afterwards. “So far 26 lakh hospitalisation claims worth Rs. 25,000 crore have been settled, while life insurance companies settled 26 lakh claims worth Rs. 25,000 crore. The pending claims are now less than 10 per cent,” she said.