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Budget expectations By Mr. Satish Gidugu, CEO & Whole Time Director at Medi Assist Healthcare Services (India’s leading Third Party Administrator (TPA)).

“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about an intense focus on the subject of preventive healthcare and implored citizens to secure themselves by purchasing adequate health insurance cover. However, in the backdrop of falling incomes because of medical exigencies or job losses, many Indians are scaling down the coverage of their health insurance policies in a bid to save on the premium amount expended. Adding to this alarming trend is the fact that nearly 30% of the Indian population remain uninsured and you have a dangerous situation that is detrimental to our country's goal of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.

To reverse this course, it is imperative that tax paying citizens are incentivised to opt for a higher health insurance cover while the Government focuses on its slew of initiatives aimed at the bottom 50% of India's population. There is an opportunity to reduce the GST rates on health insurance premiums, allow input credit on GST paid towards employee health insurance and eliminate perquisite tax completely on employee medical reimbursements. This will create a significant impact on the overall adoption of health insurance.

Doubling the existing tax deduction limits under section 80D of Income Tax Act for medical insurance premium paid will result in savings for the taxpayer, which in turn can be utilised to enhance the health coverage and include all dependents in the family. If announced in the forthcoming Union Budget, this measure would help the ordinary Indian citizen immensely and will help them to be better prepared for any future pandemic”. 

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