CHENNAI: India’s largest hospital chain by bed capacity and revenue, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd (AHEL), said on Friday that it is in ongoing discussions with health insurance companies to resolve pending pricing and claim settlement issues and expressed confidence in finding a constructive way forward.
Addressing the concerns raised between the Association of Healthcare Providers–India (AHPI) and general insurance companies during an analysts’ call, the Apollo management said the hospital group intends to continue working closely with insurers.
The friction between AHPI and insurers surfaced after the hospitals’ body warned it might suspend cashless services for several general insurance companies, including Max Insurance, Niva Bupa, Bajaj General Insurance (formerly Bajaj Allianz), and Star Health Insurance.
During Friday’s call, Dr Suneetha Reddy, Managing Director of AHEL, said, “There is a very good way forward. We are all part of the same value chain, representing different segments, and we recognise the importance of working together.”
On the issue of pricing contracts, A Krishnan, Group CFO of Apollo Hospitals, explained, “Our contracts with insurers are renewed once every two years, whereas inflation changes annually. Some contracts come up for renewal this year, others next year — it’s a rolling system and that’s how it works.”
Earlier, AHPI had alleged that insurers were delaying claim settlements. In response, some insurers had reportedly removed certain hospitals from their empanelment for a few days. However, the issue was largely resolved after discussions between AHPI and insurers in September.
Apollo Hospitals on Thursday reported a 26% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 477 crore in Q2 FY26, compared to Rs 379 crore in the same period last year. The hospital’s consolidated revenue grew 13% to Rs 6,304 crore, up from Rs 5,589 crore in September 2024.
On the outlook for organic growth, Reddy said, “We expect to grow at 13% as we have seen 60% of Bangladeshi patients returning for treatment in October. We are also exploring other international markets such as Uzbekistan, Iraq, Africa, and Indonesia.”
She added that the return of Bangladeshi patients, along with entry into new geographies, will drive growth momentum. Apollo had earlier stated that the fall in Bangladeshi patient inflow had impacted its healthcare revenue by at least 1% in Q2 FY26.
Reddy further noted that the company expects an additional 5% growth next year with the addition of new beds and hospitals in key cities.
The management said that six new hospitals will be added to Apollo’s network in the next one year.
“The cancer hospital in Delhi’s Defence Colony and the Pune facility will start contributing to revenue from Q3 onwards, while the Apollo Malleshwaram and Mysuru expansion projects are expected to be completed by the end of next calendar year or by FY27,” Krishnan added.