Gravitas: Coronavirus and Health insurance: The business of pandemic

here's another question is anyone gaining from this pandemic the answer is yes we have a list and insurance companies i can tell you figure very prominently on it they're making windfall gains look at what's happening in america insurance companies double their profits in august america's largest health insurer the united health group reported a profit of 6.7 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2020. companies like anthem and humana double their profits too

the united states has a for-profit health care system meaning the system operates to earn profits it's a legit business it's not public service patients are at the mercy of insurers if you don't have a health cover you'll have medical debt what about india the story is not very different here let me show you some numbers last year a report claimed that 55 million indians were pushed into poverty due to patient care costs 55 million

between 2011 and 2012 more than 80 percent indians were paying for health care out of their own pocket as of three years back 56 percent of indians did not have any health cover these numbers were recorded before the pandemic yes but they tell a story the story of how vulnerable indians are when it comes to serious illness this shows you how one hospital stay one hospital stay can a household consider the treatment costs for the wuhan virus

in private hospitals in india in the month of may reports scrutinize the bills of six patients in india's top private hospital chains the cost of treatment can go anywhere from 3 lakhs to 16 lakhs in cities like delhi kolkata and mumbai which means you end up shelling out more than 20 thousand dollars for treatment for one person twenty thousand dollars one person consider the per capita income of india one thousand eight hundred and thirty seven dollars that's a little over one point three five lakhs so how can someone who barely earns more

than one lakh a year afford to pay a hospital bill that runs beyond 20 lakh rupees and why we're paying so much attention to private care because that's what indians prefer as of 2015 more than 72 percent of the rural population and 79 of urban india relied on private hospitals for treatment because the public health care system in india is not up to the task we all know this the facilities are poor the resources are limited there is only one allopathic government

doctor one government doctor for every 10 929 people in india that number alone should tell you how much stress our government hospitals are under so people choose private health care which is very costly and this is where insurance companies come in the idea of insurance is this everyone pays a little so that if a major illness strikes no one suffers a major financial loss we all share the cost insurance

companies are supposed to bridge the gap in affordability but they're often accused of exploiting crises american companies we just told you are profiting indian companies are accused of denying insurance claims since the outbreak of the wuhan virus in india several reports have accused different companies of denying payments the matter reached the supreme court in the month of august the court turned to the government of india the question the court asked was this why aren't insurers reimbursing the entire amount of treatment

let me quote from what the court said at a time of pandemic the insurance companies cannot adopt a hands-off approach especially when people are facing hardship now here's something else you should know indian insurance companies are earning significantly more from premiums according to one claim in october the annual premium on health covers has risen by forty to seventy percent four zero to seven zero by august standalone health insurance companies

collected premiums worth 6268 crores during the same period last year the same companies had less than five thousand crores in premiums this is a growth of nine percent by september insurers had received a little more than two lakh claims that amounts to more than three thousand crores what what do all of these numbers tell you they show that insurance companies are still sitting on a significant pile of cash and they're exploring new business models offering new products in the wake of the pandemic

policies that specifically cover the wuhan virus you may have been offered one too and there's nothing wrong in doing business nothing wrong in making a profit after all insurance is not public service but exploiting fears and denying claims while hapless citizens remain stuck in the fine print is plain wrong thank you for watching gravitas on rheon's youtube channel if you want to stay up to date with what's happening around the world then subscribe to our channel and don't forget to like and share

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