Celent's survey reveals what is important to the urban Indian customer vis-à-vis health insurance purchase.

India's health insurance market is growing. In order to reduce the public burden of healthcare costs and address issues with the healthcare system, the government is incentivizing health insurance off-take in the country on both the customer and the manufacturer ends. Consequently the country is seeing heightened activity in the health insurance domain resulting in some very interesting developments in the sector.

In June 2009, Celent, developed and administered a survey to assess the client requirements and satisfaction levels vis-à-vis the current health insurance products and providers and the key drivers in the segment. The survey attempts to shed light on the purchase and consumption patterns of urban India with respect to health insurance products and provider classes. Key aspects covered in the survey include:

• Health insurance penetration: The extent to which health insurance providers have been able to penetrate the immediate target market for product awareness and sales.
• Coverage level: The quantum of coverage purchased or likely to be purchased by respondents and the nature of coverage vis-à-vis number of family members covered and the quantum thereof.
• Awareness and understanding of health insurance products: Qualitative aspects of awareness and understanding of health insurance products at the clients' end.
• Satisfaction with the products: The key satisfiers and dissatisfiers for health products. Key reasons why clients purchase or do not purchase health insurance products.
• Purchase behavior of clients: The key stages in the customer purhase lifecycle and behavioral aspects associated with client purchase decision-making.
• Correlation between income, education levels, and gender with health coverage product awareness and penetration.
• Dispensation towards portability in health insurance: The receptivity of target market to introduction of portability in health insurance products.

"The consumers are telling us a story that is centered around key requirements and their awareness of the product," says Ravi Nawal, analyst in Celent's insurance practice and author of the report. "The manufacturers of insurance products have to sit up and take notice of how the consumer is behaving and responding to stimuli in this market."

This report focuses on a key aspect of tapping the immense opportu¬nity in the health insurance market: the consumer requirements. It analyzes the current socioeconomic and behavioral issues in the consumer market and provides a perspective on the requirements of this very lucrative opportunity.