31% household income spent annually on health in Bengal

Kolkata, Sept 30 (UNI) Around 31 per cent of the household income is spent annually for meeting health expenditure in West Bengal, according to a joint survey by Max New York Life Insurance and National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

Informing this, a company release today said the survey was conducted across 23 states and it was found that the state secured twelfth position with a health index of 0.610.

It observed that the annual health expenses in West Bengal stood at Rs 20,328, which was around 31 per cent of the average household income of Rs 65,972.

Max New York Life Insurance Zonal Vice-President(East) Vikram Shivpuri remarked that health insurance was recognised as one of the primary protection needs for a family in the wake of various diseases due to change in lifestyle.

The survey also highlighted that 13 per cent of the households had faced major sickness in the recent past recording an average expenditure at around Rs 16,847.

In spite of this, the overall percentage of households having health insurance was found to be only 3.36 per cent, it added.

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