Ayushman Bharat scheme credit positive for insurance companies: Moody's

The government's flagship health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat, is credit positive for insurance companies as it will aide in higher premium growth, a report said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his August 15 speech, has said that the Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHBM) will be launched on September 25.

The scheme will cover over 100 million poor families and would provide a health insurance coverage of up to Rs 500,000 per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

"The launch of universal health coverage is credit positive for the country's insurers because it will help grow health premiums and provide insurers with cross-selling and servicing opportunities," international rating agency Moody's said in its report on Thursday.