Max Bupa to provide health cover by March

Max Bupa, a joint venture between Max India and UK-based healthcare company Bupa, plans to enter the health insurance market in India by March 2010.

“We are targeting to be in the market in the first quarter next year (January to March). It is important to do it as quickly as possible because health insurance in India is growing at a very fast pace,” Damien Marmion, chief executive officer of Max Bupa, told Business Standard in his first media interaction.

Marmion said early next year could be a good time to enter the market as the buying behaviour in India showed that people want to save and invest to get tax advantages during that period.

Asked whether the company delayed its launch due to the financial meltdown, he said the slowdown had not affected investment or launch plans of Max Bupa. The company had announced its plan to enter the Indian market just few days before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September last year.

“We are building systems and training people. Premiums are being built and products developed to file with the regulator. We do not want to be very fast and get it wrong because that will severely damage our reputation,” Marmiom said.

While the health insurance market in India is growing at 35 per cent a year, some recent entrants have grown at 200-300 per cent a year.

Marmiom said, “Bupa is not going to be happy with a small business in India. A small business in a big market does not make sense. We want to grow as fast as the market, if not faster.”

The initial share capital of the company will be a minimum of Rs 100 crore as prescribed by regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda). It will adopt all the routes — bancassurance, agent, group scheme and direct — for selling its products and not specifically target customers of Max New York Life or Max Healthcare.

Marmiom said the products for Indian market would be kept simple, accessible and affordable unlike other developed markets where health insurance was well understood and complex products were offered. Health insurance penetration in India is as low as 3 per cent. Max Bupa will look at introducing portable group health insurance products to cater to the needs of people when they switch jobs.