Millennials opt for higher health cover

Chennai: Millennials in the age group of 22 to 35 years are increasingly buying health policies of higher sum assured. Policies with sum insured of Rs 10 lakh and beyond has more than doubled in the past five years.

As per a survey by Policybazaar.com, increasing number of millennials - six out of 10 - are opting for health plans with sum insured between of Rs five lakh and Rs one crore. Further, proportion of policies bought by millennials with sum insured of Rs 10 lakh and beyond has more than doubled in the past five years - surging from 8.4 per cent to 17.8 per cent.

Sum assured of above Rs 10 lakh went up from 4.7 per cent to 16.8 per cent among millennials in the age group of 22 -25 years. Among age groups of 26-30 years and 31-35 years, the share of those preferring sum assured above Rs 10 lakh has gone up by 141 per cent an 88 per cent respectively.

The survey also indicates that proportion of health covers purchased by millennials with sum insured between Rs five lakh and Rs 10 lakh has experienced a growth of 20 per cent in last five years. Proportion of these policies brought by the three age groups within millennials also has shown an increase of 13 per cent, 28 per cent and 17 per cent.

The latest trend of shifting preference towards buying policies with higher sum insured is in sharp contrast to the millennial buying trends five years back, when Rs three lakh and Rs two lakh were the most sought after health covers.

The survey indicates a dip in the total proportion of policies bought with lower sum insured. While the drop in the share of policies bought with sum insured of less than Rs three lakh is 38 per cent, for those with sum assured between Rs three to Rs five lakh is 22 per cent. The changing trend clearly establishes how millennials today are wary of the risks that the existing lifestyle poses on their health and hence better understand the importance of protection against diseases.

"A sudden medical emergency at any point in time poses a huge threat to one's accumulated corpus if he/she doesn't have an adequate health cover. Keeping this in mind, buying a health insurance while you are young is not only affordable but also makes sure that you stay financially secured against any medical emergency. With medical inflation rising at double-digit pace, millennials are now looking for health insurance plans with higher sum insured and add-ons like global coverage, OPD covers, and maternity cover to make the policy way more comprehensive," Amit Chhabra, Health Insurance, Business Unit Head, Policybazaar.com.

Millennials of Delhi-NCR are the highest contributors to health insurance policies with higher sum insured, followed by Bangalore.