India unlike other developed countries has neither good medical infrastructure nor a database to study the patterns of morbidity. Health insurance is expected to be the next big wave in insurance. A new approach is suggested to deal with health insurance through an integrated approach with behavioral economics.
India is increasing its visibility in the global arena on various accounts, be it nuclear treaties, oil explorations, investment climate, etc. The country is attracting the attention of the global investors and other countries. According to 2001 census, around 30% of the population is below 14 years and only 5% of the population is above 65 years. Hence, the balance of 65% of the population is aged between 15 and 65 and a certain segment will be growing old in the next two decades. India as a country that depends more on its human resources to excel in many streams can make it possible only if the resources are kept healthy. To be precise, economics has taken the center stage and there is a need for integrating more of economics with health insurance by increasing the focus on health economics, behavioral economics, etc.
Health economics relates to the issues of health and healthcare. Let us assume that a person aged `x' years has an economic value due to the factors of his earning power, employable years, etc. This can be compared to a corporate that has a similar earning power, production capacity, years of existence, etc. A good corporate requires good corporate governance, compliance with various laws and regulations and especially good risk coverage in the form of insurance. Corporates have insurance coverage for many of the risks exposed like fire insurance, engineering insurance, motor insurance, workman compensation insurance, etc. But there are no initiatives on similar lines for the health sector. If every human being is treated as a stock in the human capital, then even a day's loss of productivity will certainly impact the value of the stock and hence the human capital and productivity. While such a loss in stock can be measured to some extent in the organized sector, it is difficult to measure in the unorganized sector as many of their activities are not recorded or tracked. Health pushes many of the families in the unorganized sector to below the poverty line status. While many of the people in the organized sector have some form of backing in the form of either paid leaves, group coverage, etc., the people in the informal sector do not enjoy such privileges. The delay in treatment impacts these people in two ways: (1) Capital erosion as their work is mostly semi-skilled or unskilled and depends on their physical health; (2) Business continuity, the ability to continue in the business.
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