80 per cent of persons with disabilities lack health insurance in India: Reports

NEW DELHI: Eighty per cent of persons with disabilities have no health insurance, and 53 per cent of those who apply allegedly face rejection, often without any explanation, according to a white paper released on Thursday. The white paper, conducted by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), said that despite constitutional guarantees, directives issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and the mandates of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (2016), persons with disabilities continue to encounter discriminatory underwriting practices, unaffordable premiums, inaccessible digital insurance platforms, and a widespread lack of awareness about available schemes. The report said the findings highlight deep systemic inequities that continue to deny approximately 16 crore Indians with disabilities equitable access to both public and private health insurance. This whitepaper comes at a crucial moment. Even as the government expands Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY) to cover all senior citizens aged 70 and above, persons with disabilities remain conspicuously excluded despite facing equal, if not greater, health vulnerabilities. There is no principled or policy justification for this gap, said Arman Ali, Executive Director, NCPEDP, as he unveiled the findings of the white paper, Inclusive Health Coverage for All: Disability, Discrimination and Health Insurance in India. The NGO, which advocates for the rights of people with disabilities by focusing on policy, employment, accessibility, education and awareness, carried out a nationwide survey between 2023 and 2025 of over 5,000 persons with disabilities across 34 States and Union Territories. The continued exclusion of persons with disabilities from affordable and comprehensive health insurance is more than a systemic failure. It is a violation of rights, he added. As India advances toward universal health coverage, extending equitable protection to the countrys 16 crore people with disabilities and their families is not optional. It is a moral imperative, a constitutional responsibility and essential for a truly inclusive healthcare system. India cannot be burdened with the generational cost of exclusion of people with disabilities, the disability rights advocate said. The white paper said many applicants are allegedly refused insurance solely on the basis of their disability or pre-existing conditions, with particularly high rejection rates among persons with autism, psychosocial disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and blood disorders such as thalassaemia. Ali said that to address these systemic gaps, the organisation has issued key recommendations, including the immediate inclusion of all persons with disabilities under Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY) without age or income criteria, aligning with the 2024 order that expands coverage to senior citizens above the age of 70; enhanced coverage for mental health, rehabilitation and assistive technologies; and the creation of a dedicated Disability Inclusion Committee within IRDAI. The other recommendations include increasing awareness among all stakeholdersincluding insurers and healthcare staffon disability-sensitive service delivery, and standardising premiums for disability-inclusive policies across all private insurance companies, with accessibility ensured for mandatory processes and mechanisms. NCPEDP also urged policymakers and regulators to drive a national dialogue on disability-inclusive health insurance, shifting the narrative from charity-based approaches to rights-based healthcare access.