Rising Healthcare Costs Pushed Average Claim Payout 30% Higher In Last Three Years

As the air gets a little thicker with pollution and catching the common cold becomes a monthly routine, the number of visits to the hospital also climbs higher. Even though an increase in cases is expected with seasonal diseases, data from PolicyBazaar.com shows that health insurance claims are primarily driven by not just seasonal diseases but also chronic conditions.

The most common health conditions leading to claims are fever, gastritis, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. The average claim payout amount went from Rs 62,014 in 2023 to Rs 70,152 in 2024, according to PolicyBazaar.com.

A 30% increase in average payouts over last three years point at the healthcare costs which are on the rise. The need for young people to buy health insurance presents a strong case for itself in the data. The growing number of claims is not limited to a certain age group as the youth also report a decent number of claims.

The data also highlights that young adults aged 18 to 35 report both seasonal illness and chronic diseases. The early detection of these long-term health issues has caused higher number of claims from this age group. There were also more claims from male policy holders as they accounted for 86% claims.

The frequency of claims has also increased from 4.90% during the previous year, rising to 5.26% this year. States like Maharashtra and Delhi report higher claim payouts despite having lower number of total claims. Maharashtra accounts for 14.50% of the cases while Delhi has 10.20% of total claims.

There is also an increase in the amounts that policyholders are claiming for treatment. With medical costs increasing, ensuring that coverage is available for larger claims helps.