Insured, but at what cost?
Last Update Date: 06-10-2026
Published by India Today
Abhishek Kumar's role: Quoted
Abhishek Kumar said many clients were considering cutting or stopping health cover as premiums rose, and that younger people often put it off. He cited paperwork errors and non-disclosure as common reasons for rejected claims, called GST on insurance a deterrent, and stressed keeping an emergency fund.
What Abhishek Kumar said
Why do health insurance claims get delayed or rejected?
From what clients have shared with me, the common causes are mundane rather than sinister: mistakes in the paperwork, not disclosing a pre-existing condition when buying the policy, a premium payment that was missed, or medical documentation that does not fully support the claim. Each of these adds to the frustration policyholders feel, and most sit on the policyholder's side of the table, which I find worth knowing long before a claim is ever filed.
Is it sensible to postpone health insurance while I am young and healthy?
I see this often: younger, healthier people are the first to push insurance down the list, believing they can buy it later. At the same time, many clients have come back to me as premiums have climbed steeply, and despite our advice some intend to cut their cover or drop it altogether because they can no longer afford it. Put together, that means people are carrying less protection at a time when premiums are rising fast.
If I have insurance, why do I still need an emergency fund?
Because a policy pays only when the insurer accepts the claim, and sometimes it does not, or not in time. I always advise clients to keep an emergency fund regardless of how well insured they are. When a claim is delayed, partly approved or turned down, your own savings are the only real safety net, and that is what tides a family over while the dispute is sorted out. Insurance and an emergency fund are not substitutes; each covers the gaps in the other.
In our words, from what he said in the piece. General information, not personal advice.
More of Abhishek's views on insurance
The first part of a series on India's insurance system looks at why people are cutting or dropping health cover. It points to claim rejections and delays, slow cashless discharge, rapidly rising premiums and the then 18% GST on premiums, and asks whether basic policies should be exempt from the tax.
Publisher source
Insured, but at what cost?