With studies showing positive risk profile of womenfor non-life insurers, the Pune-based Bajaj Allianz General Insurance CompanyLtd. plans to introduce gender based pricing of its health insurance products,said a top company official Thursday.
"As per our study, women in India have lower chance ofsuffering an illness. We plan to come out with a health insurance product wherethe pricing will be based on gender. In six-seven months, we will have theproduct ready," managing director and CEO Tapan Singhel told reportershere.
Presently non-life insurers charge premium based on theprospect's age and not on the basis of their sex while life insurers charge ahigher premium rate for women.
Singhel said the premium charged for women will be lowerthan that of men.
He said the company earned around Rs.500 crore premium fromhealth insurance portfolio.
"Our target is to grow the portfolio this year byaround 25 percent. Out of the total health insurance portfolio, group insuranceaccounts for 60 percent and retail policyholders 40 percent. In terms of claimsexperience, the group business has the claims ratio of 93 percent while in theindividual segment it is 83 percent," Singhel said.
He said health insurance portfolio is set to grow as thepenetration levels are currently very low.
Only 15 percent of the 1.1 billion population is coveredunder health insurance, majority of which is a group medical cover.
He said the Indian health insurance sector isprojected to grow at 25 percent to touch a premium figure of Rs.32,500 crore by2015 from Rs.13,345 crore logged in 2011-12.