Hyderabad has least critical illness insurance cover

However, 89% of the respondents believe health insurance is a necessity for tobacco users given the increasing hospitalisation costs

Hyderabad has the lowest number of insurance policies, which cover critical illness including ailments related to tobacco consumption, according to a survey conducted by ICICI Lombard.

The survey — ICICI Lombard Tobacco Consumption Habits 2014 —  said only 8 per cent of the respondents here own a critical illness policy. Overall, 63 per cent own a health insurance policy. However, 89 per cent of the respondents believe health insurance is a necessity for tobacco users given the increasing hospitalisation costs.

Despite being concerned about the necessity of cover, 64 per cent of the respondents do not want to purchase a health insurance cover in the next six months, the survey said.

Overall, close to two-thirds (64 per cent) of the respondents have not disclosed their smoking/chewing tobacco habits while buying a health insurance policy. It’s because 57 per cent of them fear of policy rejection and problems during claim settlement.

While most of the respondents believed it was necessary to get covered, more than half (54 per cent) of the respondents felt it to be not important for them. Also, three-fourths of the respondents bought a health insurance policy to leverage the tax savings.

Amit Bhandari, vice president, Health and Claims, ICICI Lombard, said, “Health insurance companies have not yet come to a stage where claims would be linked to consumers’ disclosure of tobacco consumption habits. However, the findings indicate that a lot needs to be done to encourage people to opt for health insurance.”

The survey reveals various trends and patterns of tobacco product consumption, triggering factors behind taking up tobacco, frequency of consumption, hindrances in giving up among others.

According to the survey findings, 98 per cent of the respondents in Hyderabad consume cigarettes, and 86 per cent never tried to quit the habit of smoking. The average daily consumption of cigarette was 6-7 times. Around 62 per cent of respondents agreed smoking relieves them from work stress. In Hyderabad, the weekly spend on cigarettes is the highest at Rs 472 per week.

The survey had a sample size of 1,111 people and covered Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. It covered employed males and females aged 21-40 with a monthly income of above Rs 25,000, smoking at least once a day/people who consume at least one pouch of gutka/pan masala containing tobacco.