International Journal of Scientific Research and Modern Education (IJSRME)

ISSN (Online): 2455 – 5630

(www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume I, Issue II, 2016
A STUDY ON POLICY HOLDERS AWARENESS
AND PREFERENCE TOWARDS HEALTH
INSURANCE
V. Sini* & Dr. C. R. Karpagam**
* Assistant Professor, School of Commerce, CMS College of Science
and Commerce, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu
** Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, LRG Government Arts College for
Women, Tirupur, Tamilnadu
Abstract:
Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among
individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care and health system expenses,
among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a
monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is available to pay for the health
care benefits specified in the insurance agreement. The main objective of the study is to
study about the awareness towards health insurance policies of different companies and to
study about the factors that influence health insurance premium among the policy holders.
For this purpose a sample of 150 was collected and percentage analysis, chi-Square tests,
weighted average were used as tools to analyse the data and the conclusion is that the
respondents are neutral about tax benefit, risk coverage & saving, security with high
return which shows that they are unaware about the aspects and if the company tries to
give more advertisements about the products then the level of awareness about the
product can be increased in future period of time and if the company tries to reduce the
claim span of the respondents then the level of satisfaction of the policy holders can be
increased in future period of time.
Key Words: Insurance, Benefit & Risk Coverage
Introduction to the Study:
Insurance is a mechanism of risk shifting and sharing by pooling of risks and
funds among a group of individuals who are expose to similar kinds of risks for the
benefit of those who suffer loss on account of the risk. Insurance is, thus, a financial tool
specially created to reduce the financial impact of unexpected events and to create
financial safety. Certainly, everyone who wants to protect himself against financial
hardship should consider insurance.
Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses
among individuals. By approximating on the whole risk of health care and health system
expenditures, among an objective group, an insurer can develop a usual finance
arrangement, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is
available to pay for the health care assistances specified in the insurance agreement.
Statement of Problem:
Policy holder’s awareness is about making the policy holders aware of his/her
rights. The study is about analyzing the awareness of policy holders towards medi claim
insurance as it’s a need for every persons.
Objectives of the Study:
 To study about the awareness towards health insurance policies of different
companies
 To know the preference of policy holders based on the premium amount
charged.
 To study about the factors that influence health insurance premium among the
policy holders.

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 International Journal of Scientific Research and Modern Education (IJSRME)
ISSN (Online): 2455 – 5630
(www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume I, Issue II, 2016
 To study about the customer satisfaction about medical insurance premium.
 To offer suggestions.
Significance of the Study:
The main significance of the study is to know about the policy holder’s
awareness about medi claim insurance provided by star health and to check the
perception based on awareness and satisfaction.
Scope of the Study:
The study is about analysing the awareness towards health insurance policies of
different companies. The main scope of the study is to analyse the awareness and that
will be helpful for the company to know about the perception of policy holders which
will help them to increase the volume in future period of time.
Review of Literature:
Coviello, Antonio and Di Trapani, Giovanni, (2012) said customer satisfaction
with a company's services is often seen as the key to a company's success and long-term
competitiveness. The insurance industry is getting a lot of attention as Customer
satisfaction. In the context of relationship marketing, customer satisfaction is often
viewed as a central determinant of customer retention. The overall purpose of this
article is to develop a conceptual foundation for investigating the customer retention
process, with the use of the concepts of customer satisfaction and relationship quality.
Customer satisfaction is a key metric for insurance companies to monitor in order to
gauge which areas of their customer service are strong and which areas need
improvement in order to maintain or increase their membership base.
Dash, Mihir and Gunwant, Swati, (2012) examined service quality is a dominant
issue in business today. Not only is superior quality linked to business success (Philips,
Chang and Buzzell, 1983), but some consider service quality to be a prerequisite for the
survival in the marketplace (Parasuraman, Zeithmal and Berry, 1988). Service quality
was traditionally, albeit mistakenly, equated with courtesy (Benett and Higgins, 1988).
Over the years, however, service quality has become more important to service
businesses. In the early twentieth century, service quality has been reported as having
apparent relationship to customer satisfaction.
Type of Research Design:
Descriptive researches are those which are concerned with describing the
characteristics of a particular individual or a group. The descriptive research describes
the demographic characteristics of the dealers and is typically concerned with
determining frequency with which something occurs of how the variables vary together.
Method of Data Collection:
Primary Data:
The validity and reliability of the data collected mainly depends upon the sources
selected. Taking this into account, care had been taken to collect the first hand
information through form of structured questionnaires from the policy holders. The
primary data was collected with the policy holders of star health insurance and the
agricultural people residing at Coimbatore who have Star insurance policy and the
policy was chosen with person who are having health insurance policy.
Secondary Data:
Secondary data is the information that has been gathered in some other context
and is already available. Secondary data provides the case and the starting point for the
research. It provides leads and clues for getting primary data required for further
analysis and have a great half in completion of the project company files, former
projects, reports and periodicals were reviewed for gathering secondary information.

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 International Journal of Scientific Research and Modern Education (IJSRME)
ISSN (Online): 2455 – 5630
(www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume I, Issue II, 2016
Sampling Design:
Descriptive Research technique is adopted to undergo the study. Descriptive
research includes a survey and fact finding enquiries of different kinds. The major
purpose of this research is description of the state of affairs as it exists at present.
Sample Size:
In this research work, Sample Size is 150.
Sampling Area:
The study was conducted in Coimbatore town area were only limited population
was chosen on random basis.
Statistical tools:
 Percentage Analysis
 Chi-Square tests
 Weighted average
Statistical Package:
SPSS Software 16.0 Version
Limitations of the Study:
 Due to time constraint, the sample size is limited to 150 & the study area is
restricted to Coimbatore.
 Only those who have policy in a particular company are included in the sample
size.
 Respondent may fail to express their opinions and beliefs.
 Only particular company policy holders are selected for study.
Analysis and Interpretation:
Frequency Percent
Male 69 69.0
Gender Female 31 31.0
Total 100 100.0
18-25 16 16.0
26-35 21 21.0
Age 36-45 28 28.0
Above 45 35 35.0
Total 100 100.0
Married 72 72.0
Marital Status Unmarried 28 28.0
Total 100 100.0
School level 33 33.0
Diploma 39 39.0
Educational Qualification UG 6 6.0
PG 12 12.0
Professionals 10 10.0
Self employed 36 36.0
Professional 29 29.0
Agriculturist 9 9.0
Occupation
Business person 17 17.0
Others 9 9.0
Total 100 100.0

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 International Journal of Scientific Research and Modern Education (IJSRME)
ISSN (Online): 2455 – 5630
(www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume I, Issue II, 2016
Frequency Percent
Advertisement 31 31.0
Friends & Relatives 35 35.0
Awareness on Health Agents 4 4.0
Insurance
Others 11 11.0
Doctor 19 19.0
Total 100 100.0
Highly aware 12 12.0
Aware 26 26.0
Awareness on Tax Benefit Neutral 34 34.0
Not Aware 28 28.0
Total 100 100.0
Highly aware 24 24.0
Aware 31 31.0
Awareness on Risk Coverage
Neutral 38 38.0
& Saving
Not Aware 7 7.0
Total 100 100.0
Highly aware 12 12.0
Aware 28 28.0
Awareness on Security With
Neutral 49 49.0
High Return
Not Aware 11 11.0
Total 100 100.0
Highly aware 51 51.0
Aware 21 21.0
Awareness on Insurance
Neutral 11 11.0
Services
Not Aware 17 17.0
Total 100 100.0
Highly aware 61 61.0
Aware 14 14.0
Awareness on Premium
Neutral 18 18.0
Charges
Not Aware 7 7.0
Total 100 100.0
Interpretation:
The above shows 69% are male and 31% are female. 16% are from the age group
of 18-25, 21% are from the age group of 26-35, 28% are from the age group of 36-45,
35% are from the age group of above 45. 72% are married and 28% are unmarried.
33% are from school level, 39% have completed diploma, 6% have completed UG, 12%
have completed PG, and 10% are professionals. 36% are self employed, 29% are
professionals, 9% are agriculturist, 17% are business person and 9% are from other
category. 40% are earning below 30000, 21% are earning from 30000-40000, 12% are
earning from 40000-50000, and 27% are earning from 50000-60000. 31% are getting
awareness through advertisement, 35% are friends and relatives, 4% are agents, 11%
are from other category, and 19% are doctor. 12% are highly aware, 26% are aware,
34% are neutral, and 28% are not ware of the tax benefit of insurance. 24% are highly
aware, 31% are aware, 38% are neutral, and 7% are not aware of the risk coverage &
saving of insurance. 12% are highly aware, 28% are aware, 49% are neutral, and 11%
are not aware of security with high return of insurance. 51% are highly aware, 21% are

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 International Journal of Scientific Research and Modern Education (IJSRME)
ISSN (Online): 2455 – 5630
(www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume I, Issue II, 2016
aware, 11% are neutral, and 17% are not aware of insurance services. 61% are highly
aware, 14% are aware, 18% are neutral, and 7% are not aware of premium charges.
29% are consequences of obesity, 4% said as years of life lost, 1% said as fear on future
health, 1% are other factors and 65% said as when need arise.
Relationship Between Age and Satisfaction on Service Provided:
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 7.627 a 9 .358
Interpretation:
The above table shows about the relationship between age and satisfaction on
service provided were the significance level is at 0.358 which is greater than 0.05 which
shows that there is no significant relationship between age and satisfaction on service
provided and age need not be taken while taking satisfaction of service in to
consideration.
Weighted Average:
Highly Not Average Mean
Aware Neutral
Aware Aware Mean Rank
Awareness on tax benefit 14 41 48 22 32.80 1
Awareness on Risk coverage & saving 24 31 38 7 22.80 3
Awareness on Security with high return 12 28 49 11 25.90 2
Awareness on insurance services 51 21 11 17 19.40 4
Awareness on premium charges 61 14 18 7 17.10 5
Interpretation:
Among awareness of respondents about the factors neutral about tax benefit,
neutral about risk coverage & saving, neutral about security with high return, highly
aware about insurance services, and highly aware about premium charges. It shows that
the respondent give more importance to no idea on awareness on tax benefit in our
survey.
Suggestions:
 The respondents said that they are influenced by friends and relatives in our
survey which shows that if the company moves their policies through reference
then the need can be satisfied which leads to increase in volume of the company.
 The respondents are neutral about tax benefit, risk coverage & saving, security
with high return which shows that they are unaware about the aspects and if the
company tries to give more advertisements about the products then the level of
awareness about the product can be increased in future period of time.
 If the company tries to reduce the claim span of the respondents then the level of
satisfaction of the policy holders can be increased in future period of time.
Conclusion:
Customer awareness is the feeling or attitude of a customer towards a product or
service after it has been used and is generally described as the meeting of one’s
expectations. The study is to analyze the awareness and preference of the policy holders
on service provided by the company in Coimbatore region. The main objective of the
study is to identify the factors that influence policy holders awareness towards medi
claim insurance products and to find out the problem of the policy holders and to create
a platform for redressing the grievances and protect the interest of the policy holders.
The data was collected from 100 respondents were descriptive analysis was used as
sampling technique. Percentage analysis, and chi-square were used as tool for analyzing

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 International Journal of Scientific Research and Modern Education (IJSRME)
ISSN (Online): 2455 – 5630
(www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume I, Issue II, 2016
the data. The conclusion is that the respondents are neutral about tax benefit, risk
coverage & saving, security with high return which shows that they are unaware about
the aspects and if the company tries to give more advertisements about the products
then the level of awareness about the product can be increased in future period of time
and if the company tries to reduce the claim span of the respondents then the level of
satisfaction of the policy holders can be increased in future period of time.
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3. Booske B C, Sainfort F, Schoofs Hundt A (1999) Eliciting Policy holder’s
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4. Buchmueller TC, Feldstein PJ (1996) Policy holders's sensitivity to health plan
premiums: evidence from a natural experiment in California. Health Aff 15:143
151.
5. Chakraborty G, Ettenson R, Gaeth G (1994) how policy holderss choose health
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6. A. Venkedasubramaniam & K. Veerakumar (2015) article titled “A Study on
Mutual Fund Investors’ Behaviour with Special Reference to Pollachi Taluk”
International Journal of Research, Vol-II, Issue-II, and March-2015. P.No.60-65.
7. K. Veerakumar (2016) article titled “A Research on Quality Factors Influencing
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towards Motor Vehicle Insurance Based on Credit Policy With Reference to
Coimbatore” International Journal of Current Research and Modern Education,
Vol-I, Issue-I, 2016.P.No.457-462.

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