With more and more Indians opting for health insurance policies, the claims paid by insurance companies jumped over 82% to Rs 7,456 crore in 2009-10 over the previous fiscal.
Health insurance firms had paid Rs 4,087 crore towards claims in 2008-09.
Number of policy holders increased to 68,84,687 in the last fiscal from 45,75,725 in 2008-09, the latest data released by the Insurance Information Bureau (IIB) revealed.
With health insurance portability set to be launched from July 1, the sector is set to witness increased competition.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has issued guidelines for health insurance portability, whereby one can switch service providers without compromising on policy terms. The customers are also expected to get well-priced policies and better quality services.
The data further said premium collection by insurers too witnessed a significant increase to Rs 7,803 crore in 2009-10 from Rs 3,976 crore in the previous fiscal.
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As many as 8,16,793 policy holders in the age group of 41-60 years claimed insurance, followed by 7,87,621 persons in in the age bracket of 26-40 years in 2009-10. The data revealed that parents of children below the age of one year made 4,87,288 claims and the firms paid Rs 1,713 crore towards the same.
Further, people suffering from circulatory, digestive, urology, eye and infection problems topped the list of health insurance claimants. A total of 32,63,597 insurance claims were made in the last fiscal.
The IIB said the data is based on information received from third party administrators (TPAs) and insurers.
Besides, three standalone health insurers -- Star Health & Allied Insurance, Apollo MUNICH and Max BUPA -- number of other players including National Insurance Company, United India and Oriental Insurance and ICICI Lombard are active in this field.