A survey conducted by Apollo Munich Health Insurance in collaboration with AC Nielsen found that despite a rise in health insurance claims filed by women, the number of women opting for products that are tailored for them has significantly gone down.
Women are the backbone of the family as homemakers, apart from being employees in the workforce. Since they are often engaged in taking care of home and their work places, most of them ignore their routine health checkup, unless a situation warrants it. As a country we continue to turn to males in the family as the main wage earners.
The survey revealed that more than 80 percent of men and women who took part in the poll believe that the bread earner should be the first to be insured against life and health related risks.
As India continues to fight for gender parity and seeks more women-friendly policies, it is unfortunate that we are unable to break mindsets when it comes to the bread earner of the family. Out of the 2,284 people surveyed, over 2,000 people feel that the man is the chief wage earner in a family.
Women continue to be responsible for the health and wellness of their family and as a result over 61 percent women said that they take care of their families' food and nutrition, rather than their own.
"With more women becoming economically independent today and leading longer lives, women should consider individual health insurance policies and critical illness riders, etc, and not depend only on the spouse's cover to mitigate their healthcare expenses. The insurance industry must come together to promote health insurance for the 65crore women in the country to ensure that their healthcare expenses are met," said Antony Jacob, CEO, Apollo Munich Health Insurance.