A REVIEW ARTICLE ON 'COMPARATIVE STUDY OF VARIOUS HEALTH INSURANCE PRODUCTS IN INDIA'

Since the past two decades, there has been a phenomenal surge in acceleration of healthcare costs. This has compelled individuals to have a re-look on their actual monthly expenditures, spending patterns and simultaneously allocate a proportion of their income towards personal healthcare. Health care finance plays a critical role in access to health care. Health insurance provides an opportunity to pool the risk and resources amongst people, which can then enable enhanced access to health care and prevention of catastrophic out of pocket expenditure. Currently, in India, there are different types of health insurance models and schemes applicable which cater to the needs of the Indian population. Before buying a policy it is important to comprehend the fine print of the insurance policies that helps to understand the scope of the policy and its limitations, which are seldom spelled out by the agent selling their products. Hence there is a greater need to understand the fine print of the healthcare insurance products to understand and choose a policy that has been well suited for the a person and his conditions. For this reason the current study aims to evaluate and compare the various policies offered by the various health insurance distributors in India. This would help to provide a basic comparison between the various policies whereby helping an individual to understand the major differences and select a policy as per his or her needs.