Ahmedabad: Healthcare is getting costlier in Gujarat, and the rising bills are increasingly showing up in health insurance claims. The average claim in the state has climbed 32% in four years, from Rs 73,141 in 2022 to Rs 96,760 in 2026, with Ahmedabad and Vadodara crossing the Rs 1 lakh mark.According to Policybazaar’s ‘The Cost of Care in India’ report, Ahmedabad recorded the highest average claim in Gujarat at Rs 1.03 lakh, followed by Vadodara at Rs 1.02 lakh and Surat at Rs 96,395. While the figures remain below the national average of Rs 1.19 lakh, they highlight the growing financial burden of medical treatment.Medical inflation across several treatment categories is estimated at 6-10% annually, while cancer treatment costs are rising by around 10-14% each year.
Health Insurance Claims
“The increase in average claims is majorly driven by medical inflation. The rising cost of procedures, medicines, diagnostics and hospitalisation is increasing the amount insurers pay per claim,” said Siddharth Singhal, head of health insurance, Policybazaar.“Age is a key driver of healthcare costs. Chronic and critical illnesses become more common with age, often requiring specialised treatment and costlier procedures,” Singhal said.The pressure is particularly significant in Gujarat, where private hospitals account for a large share of hospitalisation. The latest Household Social Consumption: Health survey by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation found that 64.4% of hospitalisation cases in the state were treated in private hospitals, rising to 69.5% in urban areas.Average medical expenditure per hospitalisation was Rs 38,607 in Gujarat, with Rs 51,742 in urban areas and Rs 55,139 in private hospitals.Ashish Soni, managing director of a city-based insurance broking and consultancy firm, said advanced treatments were pushing up bills. “The cost of treatment has increased, particularly with the growing use of robotic surgeries and advanced procedures. We are seeing a 15-20% rise in planned robotic surgeries, while complex liver, cancer, kidney and heart cases can run into Rs 10-15 lakh a day in some instances,” he said.High-cost treatments are also driving claims. Average cancer claims nationally rose from Rs 3.1 lakh in 2021 to Rs 5.6 lakh in 2026, while claims for heart disease, hypertension and stroke crossed Rs 2 lakh.As costs rise, consumers are increasing coverage. Soni said, “We are seeing 30-40% of customers increase their sum insured, while demand for top-up covers is also rising every year.” He added that healthcare insurance was increasingly becoming part of financial planning.
