Cancer claims rise most in 2024, cardiac close 2nd

MUMBAI: Claims for hospitalisation under cancer saw the highest increase in incidence, with the number of cases rising by 12 per cent in 2024. This was closely followed by cardiac ailments. In 2024, five conditions accounted for most hospitalisation claims for insurance companies. Among the five, claims for respiratory ailments experienced the highest inflation, with costs increasing by 10-13 per cent .
The health insurance data is based on an analysis of claims by MediAssist Healthcare Services, the largest third-party administrator of health insurance and which processes over a fifth of all hospitalisation claims.
In the case of cancer, the incidence - per cent of claims with respect to overall insured - has been observed to rise after the age of 40, with a steeper increase among women. "Women are observed to have a 1.2-1.5 times higher incidence rate with respect to men, while data suggests that men have approximately a 1.3-1.5 times higher rate of cardiac ailments compared to women," Dhruv Rastogi, senior VP & head of data science at MediAssist, said.

For other ailments, medical inflation remained in single digits. For instance, treatment costs for cancer rose by up to 6.5 per cent , and for cardiac ailments by up to 8 per cent .
For senior citizens, the most common reason for hospitalisation (for health claims) was cataract treatment. "There is now a lot of awareness and increased facilities for surgeries, which has resulted in early detection and more procedures," Dr Vijay Sankaran, chief claims officer at MediAssist, said. He attributes the high inflation in the treatment of respiratory ailments to increased diagnoses, pollution, and the potential long-term impact of Covid, although this has not been definitively established. "In the post-Covid era, people are more cautious about respiratory ailments, which have become more severe due to pollution, driving them to hospitals for better intervention," he noted.
Sankaran also said that while people are living longer, they are not necessarily healthier. "As our economies develop, food patterns have changed, and there is more stress. There are increased cases of diabetes and hypertension, which contribute to the rise in heart diseases. Additionally, an increase in diagnostics post-Covid is leading to earlier intervention."
"So, while infectious and communicable diseases have decreased, ailments that do not kill you immediately but persist for a long time have increased," he added. At the same time, data shows that cities where claims were previously low-cost are now experiencing the highest medical inflation.