New Delhi : With health insurance remaining underpenetrated but considered expensive by the consumers, there is still significant opportunity to expand distribution and reduce cost of acquisition and services, a Ficci report said on Monday.

The report, prepared by Ficci and EY, ‘Distribution 2.0-Improving Distribution in Health Insurance’ was released by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Chairman T.S.Vijayan at Ficci’s 10th Annual Health Insurance Conference here.

“There is a need to increase consumer faith in the industry, and a perception of the value of the product. This will require a concerted effort by all the stakeholders – from the regulator, the insurers, distributors, health care providers, third-party administrators (TPA) and even pharmacies,” said Girish Rao, Co-Chair, FICCI Health Insurance Committee and Chairman & Managing Director, Vidal Healthcare Services, as per a Ficci statement.

According to Sandeep Patel, Co-Chair, FICCI Health Insurance Committee and CEO and Managing Director, Cigna TTK Health Insurance, the health insurance industry has been leveraging the new channels to expand outreach and reduce the cost of selling.

“However the acceptance of health insurance remains low. The need of the hour is to address the underlying reasons which drive purchasing behavior,” he added.

According to the officials, the Ficci-EY study tries to identify the key drivers of health insurance that the issues that hinder its spread and also pave the way for stake holders, policy makers and regulators to take initiatives to grow the business.

—IANS