Swiss Re looks for closer collaboration on health insurance with govt, regulator

With 58% healthcare spending out of pocket in India, economic costs of bad health to go up

Global reinsurance company Swiss Re is looking at closer collaboration with the government and the insurance regulator in health insurance.

The company, which already collaborates with insurers to help design better products and services based on the customer segments, is eyeing to be a larger player in this segment.

Vivek Kuruvila, head, life and health client markets, India, Swiss Re, said the company earlier supported the government-sponsored health scheme Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and other state government schemes.

“We shall be closely watching the developments of the proposed universal health scheme of the government. After the modalities of it are brought out, we will look into any opportunities on it based on our assessment,” he said.

The reinsurer also has plans to have branch operations in India.

Kuruvila said it had expressed intent to set up offices in India and the company was awaiting the final norms from the insurance regulator on foreign reinsurers opening branches in India.

This, he said, would enable them to offer a wider range of services and would help them respond quicker to changes with the enhanced capacity and more capital that will be available.

Health insurance is a crucial area of research and client servicing for Swiss Re. They are looking to partner with companies (especially pharmaceutical and technology) to offer better solutions for health care financing.

Health insurance has seen a double digit rate of inflation in India.

Winnie Ching, director and head of health solutions, Asia, Swiss Re, said almost 58 per cent of healthcare costs are borne out of pockets in India.

He said India would have a gap of 22.1 per cent in health protection by 2020. This is only next to China, which would have a gap of 37 per cent. As of 2020, health protection gap in Asia-Pacific is expected to reach $197 billion (approximately Rs 12.6-lakh crore).

Data have shown the disease patterns in India will also shift from communicable diseases, which were a majority in 1990, to non-communicable diseases in 2020. Among these cardiovascular diseases are said to be among the top-most killers.

Joint research by Swiss Re and Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health as part of Systematic Explanatory Analyses of Risk factors affecting Cardiovascular Health (SEARCH) showed that coronary heart disease (mainly responsible for heart disease deaths) will be responsible for one-third of all deaths.

Detloff Rump, chief underwriter, Asia, Swiss Re, said in the US, about $1 of every $6 is spent on cardiovascular diseases. He added by 2015, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to fall by one per cent due to the combined economic impact of coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes. This, he said, will impact not just the economy, but the insurers as well, since this disease is slowly becoming rampant.

SEARCH research also shows that diabetes is also spreading so rapidly that in India, it is projected to increase to 109 million diabetics by 2035. Similarly, the number dying from cardiovascular diseases is estimated at 2.7 million, higher in absolute terms than China.

Swiss Re aims to engage in a dialogue with insurers, corporates and regulator make the healthcare delivery model cheaper and effective, through their global expertise and research.