Expressnews
India, March 2024: Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Ltd. (Star Health Insurance), India’s largest retail health insurance company, has become the first standalone health insurance company to achieve the milestone of settling over 1 crore claims since its inception in 2006. During this period, the company disbursed over INR 44,000+ crores in claim payments, covering both cashless and reimbursement claims across the country. This watershed moment is a testament to its customer-centric approachand reflects the trust its customers have placed in the company.
The company is a pan-India player with a presence across 877 branches, and the majority of the claims pertain to Maharashtra, followed by Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Delhi.
14% of the claims during this period were paid to senior citizens, 61% to other adults, and 25% of the total claims outgo were towards children. This fact underlines Star Health Insurance’s wide range of customers in all age groups and sends a salient and clear message about the need for health insurance coverage at every stage of life. Health insurance today is fast becoming a basic necessity.
Fever and infectious diseases were the prominent reasons forclaims, amounting to 20% of the total number of claims paid. Claims arising for General Medicine, Gastroenterology, and Orthopaedics were also sizeable.
With rapid medical advancements, patients have seen a reduction in the average length of stay in hospitals by up to 20% since 2008. However, the average claim size has seen a four-fold jump,indicating significant medical inflation and the increasing cost of sophisticated equipment and treatment.
Market Dominance
As of January 2024, Star Health Insurance holds the largest market share in the retail health insurance business in India, accounting for 33 percent. The insurer has a strong distribution network of 6.84 lakh agents, which is among the largest in the insurance sector. The company also distributes its products through other channels such as digital, direct sales, corporate relations, brokers, banks, and alternate channels. Thecommanding presence in the distribution networks enables a competitive advantage for the Company.
Commenting on this historical achievement, Mr. Anand Roy, MDand CEO of Star Health Insurance said, “The journey from an unknown start-up insurance company to become the largest standalone health insurer in India has been exhilarating. This landmark accomplishment underscores our unwavering commitment towards our valued customers and bolsters our position as their preferred health insurance partner.”
“At Star Health, we have been directing our endeavors towards the middle-income groups’ Pan India, as this segment requires health insurance the most. We are focused on providing better health to our customers through our preventive health care and wellness services. Leveraging our strong data analytics, we cananticipate and respond with agility to the evolving needs of our customers.” added Roy.
More than 70% of our customer claims were settled through thecompany’s robust network of 14200+ empanelled hospitals. The company has a claim settlement team of 580+ medical experts from across specializations. Keeping its commitment to customers, the company settled the majority of cashless claims within 2-3 hours. Staying true to its endeavor of inclusivity and diversity, Star Health employs over 58% women in its claims team. The company has a 24×7 customer contact centre which helps customers to talk to us about policy and claims-related services. Furthermore, Star Health Insurance has adopted an AI-assisted process to mitigate fraudulent claims.
