Health insurance premiums increase over 27% in January on GST boost

Strong retail demand, higher government scheme premiums and GST rationalisation fuelled robust January growth for general and standalone health insurers

Health insurance premiums recorded a 27.17 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in January to ₹5,414.54 crore, with general insurers registering 20.4 per cent YoY growth to ₹2,187.98 crore and standalone health insurers growing 32.3 per cent YoY to ₹3,226.56 crore, driven by the rationalisation in GST rates for individual retail health insurance policies.

 

The health segment’s growth was largely propelled by government schemes, with gross written premium (GWP) of ₹2,480 crore in January 2026 compared to ₹1,800 crore in January 2025. Retail health witnessed strong growth of 27 per cent YoY, while group health grew 10 per cent YoY.

 

During the month, GWP for private players grew 17 per cent YoY to ₹1,740 crore, while public players reported a 3 per cent YoY decline to ₹89 crore. Standalone health insurers continue to benefit from GST exemption and the 1/N impact on base, with GWP growth of 23 per cent YoY to ₹45 crore supported by double-digit growth for most players.