There has been a massive 63% drop in the number of claims related to heart diseases in the last two years, data from General Insurance shows. There were only 2,737 claims as of August 2021 as compared to 7,360 claims in 2019-20.

Women showed a sharp drop in the number of claims at 63.8% compared to 62.4% for men. This aligns well with the findings of a recent survey by ICICI Lombard, which claimed that around 87 per cent of women suffering from heart ailments get regular health check-ups as compared to 74 per cent of men . The survey was conducted in September 2021 among 1,493 people across the country.

Among the cities, Kolkata has seen the highest decline in the number of claims at 74.9%, followed by Chennai at 71.6% and Pune at 70.6%. As far as surgeries are concerned, there has been a decline in both elective and non-elective surgeries during COVID, with a decline of 50.5% and 64.3% respectively.

Despite the decline in the number of claims for heart ailments, 68% have purchased additional health cover since COVID, while 15% plan to increase it. This is probably because 69% of women and 43% of men who were suffering from heart disease contracted COVID in the last two years, while almost two-thirds of the respondents faced heart-related issues after contracting COVID .

Subsequently, more than two-thirds of the respondents have started eating healthy and exercising regularly to stay fit, as claimed in the survey. In addition, 46% of people believe health insurance has become a necessity, while one in three believe that health insurance is more important now than in pre-Covid times.

Pay for women declined by 57.1%, for men by 55.2%

Kolkata has seen the sharpest drop of 74.9%

Source: ICICI Lombard Claims Data