Insurance players laud limit hike

The insurance industry welcomed the Finance Minister’s move to hike the exemption limit of health insurance to Rs 25,000 from Rs 10,000.

 “With respect to the insurance sector, the increase in exemption for health insurance is a welcome move. Also, multiple initiatives have been taken towards providing social security by means of introducing life and accidental insurance and pension schemes for financially weaker sections,” Rajesh Sud, CEO and Managing Director, Max Life Insurance said.

“In order to encourage the health insurance protection, the FM also announced a raise in deduction under section 80D on health insurance premia. This deduction under Section 80D has been raised from 10,000 to 25,000. This must boost the demand for the health products. It is likely that insurers will launch new health insurance product to meet this demand,” Sunil Sharma, Chief Actuary at Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance, said.

Introducing a coverage of Rs 2 lakh for a premium of 12 per year under PM Suraksha Bima Yojana is of significant value to the lower strata of our society and ensures social wellbeing of the families of vulnerable lives. The Atal Pension Yojana is a great step which will lead to significant amount of retirement savings, given that the government will contribute 50 per cent. There were some grievances as well from the insurance industry post the Budget.