Bajaj-Allianz forays into Health Insurance sector

Kolkata, Jan 20: Bajaj-Allianz Life Insurance today announced the launch of a unique and comprehensive long term healthcare product to suit multiple needs of common people against a monthly premium of just Rs 100 each.

Announcing the launch of the new product,Bajaj-Allianz Life Insurance Company Chief Executive Sam Ghosh and its Health Insurance Head Ujjaini Dasgupta here said the new 'six in one' product, the "Bajaj- Alliance Life Healthcare vertical policy' was flexible and customised to suit a wide range of hospitalisation needs of policy holders including the cashless facilities in a network of over 1,000 hospitals and nursing homes across the country.

Claiming that despite all efforts, only about ten per cent people in India had so far come under any insurance policy,Mr Ghosh said however, in case of medical insurance the all India spread was only about three per cent or so.

Such a scenario had motivated Bajaj-Allianz to make inroads into the Health Insurance sector with a number of customer friendly products,Mr Ghosh and Ms Dagupta emphasised and said accordingly the first such product had appeared in the market today.

"We are also planning to bring in four more healthcare products into the Indian market within the next couple of months," Mr Ghosh said but refused to disclose further of the future products becauase of market competition.

About their business target in health insurance sector,Mr Ghosh said they were looking for 100 per cent growth in the collection of annual premium by March 2008 which was likely to cross the Rs 400 crores mark.

"Till last year our total business was to the tune of Rs 5,000 crores which by end of next fiscal would be doubled to reach Rs 10,000 crores," he said.

To another query Mr Ghosh informed that Bajaj-Allianz planned to invest Rs 150 crores soon to widen its present capital base of Rs 570 crores.

UNI