ICICI Pru bets big on health insurance

ICICI Prudential Life is betting large on wellness business, a new country for life coverage companies. About 12-15 per cent of the life programs that the private-sector life insurance company composes every calendar month are said to be wellness products.

The firm, which have created a specialised squad dedicated to merchandising "benefit" products, is likely to unveil a category-specific campaign shortly. Also on the anvil are programs to research new boards within the class such as as reimbursement policies that are similar to mediclaim merchandises from general coverage companies.

Most specialised healthcare merchandises by life companies are structured to supply a co-ordinated attention proposition - providing fiscal support and some kind of an income substitution to ran into the cost of wellness complications.

Currently, the range of the healthcare marketplace is estimated to be around Rs 60,000 crore and the share of coverage is less than 1 per cent. Moreover, over 80 per cent of the marketplace is insurance driven and is largely covered by mediclaim.

Bhargav Dasgupta, executive manager director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, said, "It is a large challenge to make consciousness and apprehension of the demand of wellness coverage products. As a category, wellness coverage is generally is not a top of the head product. We be after to establish a suite of merchandises eventually that screens the full demand spectrum. The thought is not just to supply against medical measures but take part in client wellness plans".

The company have set up a dedicated squad to sell wellness coverage products, for which, it is disbursement on preparation frontline statistical distribution teams. It bes after to traverse sell and up-sell to the existent base.

Without divulging any marks on wellness insurance, Dasgupta said, "The present wellness insurance premium of life companies is very little at present. But sensing immense potential, almost all life coverage companies would eventually lend to the wellness category. In fact, they could drive bigger growing in the wellness space".

ICICI Prudential currently have a portfolio of hospitalization programs and critical and specialised unwellness products.