Women Want Health Covers To Have More Add-ons

A look into the list of desires of today’s women reflects that 98 per cent of of them believe that there should be more women-centric add-ons in health insurance.

The add-ons range from cover for menstruation or hormonal issues and PCOD treatment to mental illness related to postpartum syndrome and osteoporosis, according to a study by Reliance General Insurance and Nielsen.

It was conducted to understand the behaviour and involvement of women when it comes to investment in health insurance.  

The biological difference from men results in women being more susceptible to critical ailments such as arthritis, breast cancer, auto-immune diseases, menstruation or hormonal issue and hence there’s a growing demand for women-centric add-ons in the health insurance policies.

The study highlighted that the top three features that women see while buying a policy are its coverage amount, the network of cashless hospitals it covers, and the claim settlement capability of the insurer.

Other findings show that 57 per cent of the policies purchased by women were done only during the last one year with every three out of four policies armed with at least Rs 15 lakh coverage. The trigger has been the Covid-19 pandemic. Seven out of 10 women who do not have a health insurance policy also expressed intention to buy one in the next six months.

In regards of the decision making, the study also revealed that 61 per cent of women investors in health insurance are the sole decision makers. However, seven out of 10 women are still dependent on others when it comes to buying a health insurance policy.

The study was conducted online among 547 women across Tier-I, II and III cities and among the age group of 21-45, 80 per cent of whom were working and financially independent.