The rising cost of healthcare drives a rising demand for health insurance

A new report released by Data Bridge Market Research, which analyses the impact of Covid-19 on the health insurance market across the world, highlights that the demand for health insurance is increasing, especially amongst working class adults (as opposed to seniors and minors), who are facing increased healthcare costs; and amongst employers, who are increasingly required to provide health insurance to all salaried employees.

An increase in the volume of health insurance beneficiaries – driven by the increased cost of healthcare – is expected to equate to a high compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the health insurance market in the forecasted period of 2020 to 2027.

Bronze cover health insurance policies prove to be the most popular

The research also highlights that an increase in medical costs – especially in the private sector – have led to more people buying health insurance to protect themselves and their families should they need to be hospitalised and be unable to work (and consequently need to pay for costly medical treatment). As such, policies that offer a wider variety of cover (including consultation fees, medical tests, ambulance charges, hospitalisation, and even post-hospitalisation recovery) are proving to be the most popular.

Currently dominating the market are insurance policies with a ‘bronze’ level of coverage, as the majority of customers prefer policies with low monthly or annual premiums. Data Bridge Market Research notes that in the US, for example, these plans also provide free preventive services, another attractive factor among consumers.

A global view

In North America, the US dominates the health insurance market, as the country has a well-established public health insurance system providing coverage to a large population; and it also has a well-established employer-based medical coverage for employees (not to mention how expensive the cost of healthcare is there!).

In addition, a considerable amount of uninsured population in the US means that the country is predicted to experience the highest growth rate in the forecast period, Data Bridge Market Research says.

In the European Union, Germany is the main player in the health insurance market, mainly due to its large population and its exceptional public health insurance infrastructure. In the Asia-Pacific region, the report details that China holds the largest market share; while Japan is also expected to show steady growth, due to an increasing demand for private health insurance, as well as an increasingly ageing population in growing need for long-term care.

Overall, Data Bridge Market Research predicts that the global health insurance market is due to grow with a CAGR of 4.4 per cent in the forecast period, and is expected to reach US$2,259,670.09 million by 2027.