- By Shubham Bajpai
- Tue, 17 Mar 2026 11:02 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday told the Parliament that the government's priority is to bring all citizens under health insurance coverage by 2033. This cannot be achieved without covering rural areas. Therefore, the government has set a target of providing health insurance to 25,000 gram panchayats.
While answering questions related to health insurance in Parliament on Tuesday, she said that the government wants to expand the scope of health insurance, and many schemes are being run for this purpose.
In 2024, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) issued a notification under which Gram Panchayat will be considered as the basic unit for insurance coverage.
Government's focused on making health insurance premiums affordable
The government is also focusing on making health insurance premiums affordable for rural areas and the poor. Sitharaman said that while the coverage of all types of insurance is expanding in our country, our insurance sector still lags far behind the global level.
Globally, the average insurance premium is $943 per person, whereas in our country, the average insurance premium is $97.
She said, "This gap poses a challenge for us. Despite the rapid expansion of insurance, a large number of people in our country remain uninsured."
She explained that the health insurance market is growing rapidly, with a turnover of Rs 1,17,505 crore in the financial year 2024-25.
Various health insurance schemes cover 580 million people in the country. He said that both private and public health insurance companies are rapidly expanding their coverage.
To make insurance premiums cheaper and increase its coverage, 100 per cent foreign direct investment has been approved in the insurance sector.