Max Bupa aims to breakeven by 2015

Max Bupa Health Insurance, one of the hottest players in the health care insurance business in India, hopes to reach a break-even in operations by 2015. The company, which started operations in mid-2010, is 76:24 joint ventures between Analjit Singh promoted-Max India and UK-based BUPA.

The chief financial officer of the company Neeraj Basur said, Max Bupa Health Insurance has an equity assurance of Rs 700 crore from the joint venture partners, of which, over Rs 300 crore has been infused so far. “We hope to break even in the 5^th year of operations as we had targeted,”

Being one of the most recent players in the business, Max Bupa has been trying to decide itself from other players by present unique products and special services. For instance, the company was the first to offer health insurance products with a sum insured of over Rs 15, 00,000, after which many other companies jumped into the fray, according to Basur.

In an industry where the average size of sum insured in health insurance covers is Rs 2, 00,000, Max Bupa offers health insurance products with covers ranging from Rs 15, 00,000-50, 00,000.

“We have a decent number of customers who have taken our Rs 50, 00,000 products. It depends on the customer needs. There is certainly a segment that sees value in these kinds of products. Those customers who want to ensure there are no hassles or running around when there is a health problem and if they can afford to pay that kind of premium, they go for it,” Basur observes.

Also, with the increasing medical costs and inflation driving prices up, people find it essential to move to policies with higher sum insured to ensure that they have enough coverage in the next ten years, he says.

Being a pure play health insurance player, Max Bupa has no insurance intermediaries or third party administrators, which makes the claims settlement process easy for the customers. Also, unlike most players, who get a bulk of their business from group health insurance schemes, the individual, retail customers are the focus for Max Bupa.

The company, which clocked a new business premium of Rs 46 crore for the first half of this financial year, hopes to complete its first full year on a strong note. “We have already crossed the 100,000 mark in customer base, which is pretty good for a 14 month old company. We hope to close this financial year with a total premium of Rs 70 crore,” Basur said.