Economic Survey 2023: Insurance coverage of the poor, senior citizens expanding

The government’s policy to expand insurance coverage is bearing fruit in the low-penetration Indian insurance market, the numbers shared by the Economic Survey 2023, which was tabled in Parliament on January 31, show.

As per the data shared in Economic Survey 2023, 31.3 crore beneficiaries have been enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and 1.07 lakh claims disbursed as of November 30, 2022.

The scheme, which was announced in Budget 2015 and pays Rs 2 lakh if the policy holder dies in an accident or is a completely disabled, is available for people in the age group of 18 to 70 years. A sum of Rs 1 lakh is paid out in case of partial disability.

Since its inception, 14.4 crore beneficiaries have been enrolled in the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana scheme, and 6.3 lakh claims disbursed as of November 30, 2022, the survey said. A sum of Rs 2 lakh is credited to the savings bank account of the holder in case of the death of the insured.

Also read: Economic Survey 2023: Mutual fund inflows slump 72% YoY during April-November period

Both schemes are available to individuals with a bank account. The premium is debited from the bank account.

To support senior citizens, the government rolled out Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana. The scheme is managed by Life Insurance Corporation of India. The scheme offers an assured pension at the rate of 7.4 percent per annum payable monthly for a full policy term of 10 years, on policies bought in the financial year 2022-2023.

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A total number of 8.6 lakh subscribers, with a subscription amount of Rs 84,659.4 crore, benefited from the plan as of September 30, 2022.

Also read: Economic survey: Insurance penetration improves, but most buy savings-linked

As many as 19.7 crore beneficiaries have been provided Ayushman cards. The Ayushman Bharat scheme has, so far, approved over 4.3 crore hospital admissions worth over Rs 0.49 lakh crore through a network of 28,667 empanelled healthcare providers.

These healthcare providers included 13,115 private hospitals as of January 20,2023. The government’s flagship healthcare scheme, Ayushman Bharat offers an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh to the poor and vulnerable.