Prime Highlights:
- NRI health insurance penetration in India went up 150% year-on-year since it is cheap and people have faith in Indian medical care.
- Women and young NRIs are increasingly opting for health insurance for themselves, rather than just family in India.
Key Facts:
- 46% of NRI claims are now from Tier-3 cities, a sign of greater access to healthcare.
- Major surgeries in India are 90% cheaper than in Western countries.
Key Background
“NRI health insurance” is also experiencing a meteoric boom in India, with the rate of adoption growing 150% year-on-year, new industry reports say. The trend is fueled by ever more Non-Resident Indians looking to access affordable and quality healthcare facilities in their homeland, supported by an increasingly burgeoning health insurance market.
Interestingly enough, the trend is also away from insuring just parents and elderly relatives to self-insurance by NRIs, especially those aged below 35 years. These individuals have recorded a 148% adoption of insurance, while that for female NRI adoption was 125%, indicating greater financial awareness and an increase in focus on individual healthcare planning.
Also, the pattern of health insurance claims is changing from metro cities to small cities. Tier-3 cities now contribute to 46% of NRI claims, Tier-2 has 33%, and Tier-1 cities contribute only 21%. This talks about increasing faith in non-metro region healthcare centers, with better infrastructure in hospitals and availability of insurance coverage.
Cost is one of the major reasons why NRIs are availing Indian healthcare. Expensive procedures such as heart bypasses costing between $70,000 and $150,000 in the US are done in India for between $5,000 and $8,000. Liver transplant, cancer therapy, and orthopedic procedures are also cost-effective. Even Indian health insurance premium is inexpensive on an annual basis at $120 to $300 per individual versus $8,000 in the US or $5,000 in Gulf nations.
Best NRI health insurance in India” and “medical treatment for NRIs” are the exact keywords whose query numbers have increased, signaling increased interest. The trend is a sign that NRIs are increasingly looking to India as a trusted healthcare center, based on cost-effectiveness, convenience, family closeness, and confidence in home-country medical facilities.
