Millennials Rewrite Health Insurance Rules in India

Health insurance sector in India is about to go through an upgradation by transforming itself for the country’s millennial generation. Nation’s most influential and largest customer segment as per age, millennials turned upside down the concept of shopping, and have taken the sole credit of giving rise to the sharing economy, are now also setting new rules for health insurance in India.

As per GOQii’s India Fit 2019 report, Insurance: An investment in health, shows millennials in India could be rushing towards a future full of lifestyle diseases including Hypertension and Diabetes. Which means, there couldn’t have been a better time to introducing new rules for them in terms of health insurance in India.

Young Indians are engaging themselves in activities which have increased the level of stress in their lives. Eating unhealthy or sleeping less are some of the main reasons. As the millennials suffer from living hectic lifestyles, health insurance is becoming a must-have for them. Going by the report, one should get himself/herself covered under a relevant health insurance plan before turning 30.

Unlike adulting, health and fitness cannot wait!

With youngsters more and more inclined towards wearables these days, are fuelling the wearable revolution in India with a long term goal of protection against critical illnesses. They are also seen being more alert and asking for comprehensive health insurance coverage that includes features like stress management, preventive health check-ups, gym memberships and even nutritional guidance.

Policies that incentivise the policyholders by keeping a track of their sleeping, eating or exercising habits help them stay healthy and has, therefore, started trending in India.

A popular insurance provider Max Bupa conducted a survey in 6 cities in the year 2018 where 48% of the respondents share their expectations of getting more coverage without any substantial increase in the premium, for achieving fitness goals. More than half of the potential customers agreed to pay for the feature of preventive health checks. The facts were repeated in GOQii’s India Fit report where it was stated that 70% of the youngsters agreed to share health data if they get discount on premiums.

Millennials are in a search of deeper value of health insurance products where better outcomes can be witnessed and give similar returns like in any other investment in health.

The comfort of millennials with technology

It is agreed that millennials find comfort when it comes to dealing with technology. They have even found comfort in swapping between various applications now. Which is the reason why when it comes to health insurance, their expectations remain the same. But the health insurance companies, instead of competing with health applications, must pay attention to what their customers really need and what is relevant to them.

Max Bupa’s GoActive application has the facility of booking doctor’s appointments as it was demanded, as well as relevant for the customers. Which is why the product was able to grab the immediate attention of the customers.

Millennials want their insurers to provide them digital care services, which may even include health reports to be mailed to them, or claim filing or policy renewal features to appear in the application tool. Real-time appointments with the specialists in their locality during an emergency situation or even gamification which motivates them to achieve fitness goals can be other requirements. The insurers must strive towards achieving these need-based solutions which might help the young generation and increase insurance penetration. The marketers will also have to thoughtfully communicate with the customers to deliver the right policy to the customer at the right time.

A different experience for millennials

Millennials have different expectations which the insurers will have to fulfil. They do look for information but don’t want overload. They want bite-sized information and only when it is required or useful. They require simple and efficient customer experience with policies that they can understand easily.

The young generation has health insurance on their priority list but only after that new bike or a fun vacation they’ve been waiting for. However, they have been engaged early into health insurance, with the help of long conversations. All they need is the conversation to be authentic, relevant to their lives and aligned to their requirements. They recommend as well as rely on word of mouth.

So, the way out is to reach this audience by capturing their imagination and they will surely grow in number over time. Rest assured, the insurers have a huge success ahead.