Working women better prepared for medical emergencies: Survey

LUCKNOW: Working women from older age group are more involved in financial decisionmaking and are better prepared to meet medical emergencies, reveals a study.

The survey suggests that women from tier II cities are more financially aware as compared to those in tier III cities.

The study was conducted by SBI General Insurance Company Ltd on the occasion of International Women’s Day. It was aimed at finding out women’s involvement in financial decisions, their perception towards medical emergencies and investment towards it.

The study suggests that higher number of working women from older age group opt for insurance and fixed deposits.

Women from tier II cities prefer to save for child education as compared to tier III cities that are more inclined towards preparing for medical emergencies.

The survey suggests that awareness towards critical illness is 65 per cent while only 18 per cent actually buy health insurance policy. Awareness is higher in the younger age group.

Common lifestyle diseases that women in small towns are aware of include cancer, breast cancer, renal ailments, diabetes, blood pressure, obesity, osteoporosis and asthma. Women feel that breast cancer is the biggest threat but do not go for regular check up and screening.

The primary data also captured the average stay of women in hospitals at about four days. This could be due to the possibility that the household chores are still largely dependent on women.

A study of insurance claims in the last six months shows that only 35 per cent were made by women. Out of these, only 17.8 per cent women who were hospitalised initiated the purchase of health insurance on their own.

Majority of claims reported were against infectious and parasitic diseases (23.9 percent) followed by ailments related to digestive system (15.5 per cent) and genitourinary system (8.7 per cent).

Senior vice-president, marketing and product develop- ment, SBI General Insurance, Gunjan Ghai said, “Women are the pillar of strength for their family and it is important for them to prioritise their health. Often they neglect their health as they are dependent on other family members for financial assistance. It is imperative for them to be aware of their health needs and to have health insurance cover for unforeseen medical emergency.”

“According to the study, fewer women have health insurance which shows that they are either dependent on policy provided by the employer or family floater and may not have adequate cover for themselves. Given the immense pressure that women go through on a daily basis, it is critical for them to have a health insurance that includes cover for women-only ailments,” he said.

The sample size of the survey was 1,077 and nearly 200 respondents were from different districts of the state.