India targets health insurance for all by 2033 as coverage hits 58 Cr lives

New Delhi, Mar 17: Health insurance is a priority for this government and it is expected that the country will have insurance for all by 2033, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Replying to supplementary queries during Question Hour, she said the insurance sector is expanding and during 2024-25 it covered 58 crore lives in the country.

"Health insurance is a priority for this government. In fact, we are hoping that by 2033 we will have insurance cover for all," she said.

In December 2025, the Minister said the government came up with a Bill to hike FDI in the insurance sector with an aim to increase its penetration and deepen the market.

She said insurance regulator IRDAI notified rules for the rural social sector and third-party obligations in 2024 to increase penetration in rural areas.

"...if you are looking at insurance in general, we have a challenge in that," she said adding the per capita premium is only USD 97 whereas the global average is USD 943.

"While penetration remains low, the government is actively bridging this gap through targeted reforms and affordability measures. Health insurance is now a clear priority with GST exemption on individual premiums, expansion of coverage and strong regulatory push driving the momentum," the finance minister said.

Noting that health insurance is actually rapidly expanding as a market, she said, "today the sector has already scaled significantly, reaching Rs 1,17,505 crore in 2024-25 and covering 58 crore lives, with balanced contributions from public, private and standalone insurers."

"Public sector insurers particularly through health premiums, give cover of worth Rs 42,420 crore, private sector does Rs 37,752 crore and standalone health insurance companies are doing Rs 37,331 crore," Sitharaman said, adding that for the poorest of the poor there is PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.

In her written reply to the question, the finance minister said, "In India, as informed by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), for FY 2024-25, there were 251.85 lakh individual health insurance policies, which include family members as well, covering 6.01 crore people. Further, there are 13.05 lakh group health insurance policies, covering 27.51 crore members."

She said Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) provides health insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to 12 crore families, constituting the bottom 40 per cent of India's population.

In October 2024, the scheme was further expanded to cover 6 crore senior citizens of age 70 years and above belonging to 4.5 crore families irrespective of their socio-economic status. "As on 28.02.2026, a total of 43.52 crore Ayushman cards have been created across the country," she said.

PTI