CHENNAI: There is one big consolation that diabetics will have—an exclusive insurance cover. At least two insurance companies are planning a specialised health cover for diabetics. While Apollo Munich has already filed a diabetic cover with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority ( IRDA), Religare Health Insurance will soon submit documents for a similar cover with the regulator.
Unlike the existing health covers, which do not cover hospitals admissions due to complications of diabetes for up to four years, the proposed policies will cover diabetics from day one. At least 61 million people in India are diabetic. The burden of the epidemic does not end with these people as a national level diabetic study called INDIAB has found that 71.2 million are in the pre-diabetic stage.
Insurance companies see this as a good business proposition as the disease is an epidemic in India.
"We believe in the preventive health care model and are looking to manage the lifecycle of the insured through such offerings," Nitin Jain, president and chief operating officer, Religare Health Insurance said.
The other sweet spot for insurers is that such covers will be more expensive than other normal health covers with analysts anticipating premium loadings to be 10% to 25% more on such covers when compared to normal health covers.
"Ultimately, it will be a good mix of volumes as well as values game as India has a good number of diabetes," Rahul Aggarwal, chief executive officer, Optima Insurance Brokers, an insurance advisory firm said.
Even medical practitioners have welcomed the move. "Till now, there weren't many health covers for patients suffering from diabetes and the bulk of expenses for ailments arising out of this condition were borne by the patients themselves," Dr Anoop Misra, chairman, Fortis C-DOC (Centre of Excellence for diabetes, metabolic diseases and endocrinology) said.
A recent study by MV Hospital for Diabetes in the city showed nearly 61% of the people—aged between 24 and 70—used their personal savings for treatment of the disorder and nearly 23% depended on loans. Further, the study also said that on an average, the minimum annual expenditure of a newly diagnosed diabetic, who has been prescribed only tablets for controlling sugar, was Rs 15,550. It includes costs of drugs and laboratory tests.
'Just what the doctor ordered for Gujarat'
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat, especially Ahmedabad, has often been dubbed as the diabetes capital of the country because of the extremely high incidence of the ailment here. "Between 16 and 18% of the adult population of the state suffers from this silent killer," says diabetologist Dr Mayur Patel. "Insurance cover for diabetics is the need of the hour. Barely 2% of the state's diabetics have cover. Middle-class people often have to mortgage their homes or take hefty loans to treat their diabetes." The extent to which diabetes has Gujaratis in its grip can be ascertained from the fact that diabetic cases constituted 21.6% of the total emergencies handled by the 108 service. This is the second highest in the country, second only to Andhra Pradesh. --TNN
Source: The Times of India
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Haryana government blacklists SBI Life Insurance company.
CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government has blacklisted SBI Life Insurance Company Limited for "intentionally" delaying the entire process of distribution of annuity to land owners and "failure" to carry out its commitments.
The state government has debarred the company for a period of three years from doing any further business with the government or any of its departments, public sector undertakings or autonomous bodies, said a spokesperson of the finance department on Tuesday.
The government withdrew and cancelled the bid, which was awarded to the company in 2011, for allegedly delaying the entire process of distribution of annuity to the land owners under the resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) policy of the state related to land acquisition.
Source: The Times of India
The state government has debarred the company for a period of three years from doing any further business with the government or any of its departments, public sector undertakings or autonomous bodies, said a spokesperson of the finance department on Tuesday.
The government withdrew and cancelled the bid, which was awarded to the company in 2011, for allegedly delaying the entire process of distribution of annuity to the land owners under the resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) policy of the state related to land acquisition.
Source: The Times of India
ING exits life insurance in India
MUMBAI: Dutch financial services group ING has exited its insurance business in India selling its 26% stake in ING Vysya Life Insurance to its joint venture partner Exide Industries in a deal that valued the company at Rs 1,100 crore. Exide is now looking for a foreign insurer who will buy the 26% stake.
Although a minority shareholder, holding the maximum permissible 26% stake, ING group controlled the life insurance operations for over a decade even as Indian shareholding changed several hands. A statement issued from Amsterdam said that ING's exit from the Indian life insurance joint venture is part of the previously announced intended divestment of ING's Asian Insurance and Investment Management businesses. "The process for the remaining businesses is ongoing. Any further announcements will be made if and when appropriate. Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2013," said the statement.
The valuation of the deal has surprised industry insiders. "Prima facie a valuation of Rs 1,100 crore seems to be less considering that this is a 10-year old company where the promoters have invested more than Rs 1,000 crore," said an industry official.
Industry officials also feel that the coordinated exit of financial investors gives an impression that these were structured investments where returns are not entirely market linked. However, industry persons also point out that in an exit deal the Indian partner is on a strong footing as partners have the right of first refusal.
In a statement to the stock exchanges, Exide Industries said: "The company, currently owner of 50% of the equity capital of ING Vysya Life Insurance (IVL), has in-principle decided to acquire the remaining 50% of the equity capital of IVL (26% from ING group, 16.32% from the Hemendra Kothari group and 7.68% from the Enam group) for an aggregate consideration of Rs. 550 crore approximately, subject to regulatory approvals."
Hemendra Kothari and Enam had picked up stakes in the company as financial investors in recent years.
ING is the third insurer to exit India after the opening up of the sector. Australian insurer AMP in a joint venture with Sanmar was the first to sell out to Reliance Life Insurance. Some years later American insurer Chubb exited its joint venture with HDFC following disagreement with its partner who later tied up with Ergo. Last year US insurer New York Life sold its stake in Max New York Life to Max which later sold its stake to Japan's Mitsui. Following the global financial crisis, several insurers have tempered their expansion plans. At present, North American insurer Manulife and Samsung Life of Canada are actively pursuing a presence in India.
ING, which has a presence in banking, will continue to retain its presence. "Today's agreement does not impact ING Vysya Bank, a publicly-listed Indian bank in which ING has a 44% stake, nor ING's fund management business in the country," the statement added.
Automotive battery manufacturer Exide is a Rajan Raheja group company and has a market capitalisation of over Rs 10,000 crore. The company got into the life insurance business by buying out GMR group. GMR group, which along with Vysya Bank, was the original partner of ING had acquired a majority stake after ING acquired controlling stake in Vysya Bank.
Vysya Bank had gradually diluted stake in favour of GMR to avoid falling foul of regulation which did not permit foreign partners holding 26% to invest in their joint venture partners.
Of the 24 life insurance players in the country, two companies— Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and Sahara India Life Insurance Co—are running the business without foreign partners.
Source: The Times of India
Although a minority shareholder, holding the maximum permissible 26% stake, ING group controlled the life insurance operations for over a decade even as Indian shareholding changed several hands. A statement issued from Amsterdam said that ING's exit from the Indian life insurance joint venture is part of the previously announced intended divestment of ING's Asian Insurance and Investment Management businesses. "The process for the remaining businesses is ongoing. Any further announcements will be made if and when appropriate. Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2013," said the statement.
The valuation of the deal has surprised industry insiders. "Prima facie a valuation of Rs 1,100 crore seems to be less considering that this is a 10-year old company where the promoters have invested more than Rs 1,000 crore," said an industry official.
Industry officials also feel that the coordinated exit of financial investors gives an impression that these were structured investments where returns are not entirely market linked. However, industry persons also point out that in an exit deal the Indian partner is on a strong footing as partners have the right of first refusal.
In a statement to the stock exchanges, Exide Industries said: "The company, currently owner of 50% of the equity capital of ING Vysya Life Insurance (IVL), has in-principle decided to acquire the remaining 50% of the equity capital of IVL (26% from ING group, 16.32% from the Hemendra Kothari group and 7.68% from the Enam group) for an aggregate consideration of Rs. 550 crore approximately, subject to regulatory approvals."
Hemendra Kothari and Enam had picked up stakes in the company as financial investors in recent years.
ING is the third insurer to exit India after the opening up of the sector. Australian insurer AMP in a joint venture with Sanmar was the first to sell out to Reliance Life Insurance. Some years later American insurer Chubb exited its joint venture with HDFC following disagreement with its partner who later tied up with Ergo. Last year US insurer New York Life sold its stake in Max New York Life to Max which later sold its stake to Japan's Mitsui. Following the global financial crisis, several insurers have tempered their expansion plans. At present, North American insurer Manulife and Samsung Life of Canada are actively pursuing a presence in India.
ING, which has a presence in banking, will continue to retain its presence. "Today's agreement does not impact ING Vysya Bank, a publicly-listed Indian bank in which ING has a 44% stake, nor ING's fund management business in the country," the statement added.
Automotive battery manufacturer Exide is a Rajan Raheja group company and has a market capitalisation of over Rs 10,000 crore. The company got into the life insurance business by buying out GMR group. GMR group, which along with Vysya Bank, was the original partner of ING had acquired a majority stake after ING acquired controlling stake in Vysya Bank.
Vysya Bank had gradually diluted stake in favour of GMR to avoid falling foul of regulation which did not permit foreign partners holding 26% to invest in their joint venture partners.
Of the 24 life insurance players in the country, two companies— Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and Sahara India Life Insurance Co—are running the business without foreign partners.
Source: The Times of India
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