80% Indians with disabilities lack health insurance: Survey

The survey conducted over a period of one-and-a-half years between 2023 and 2025 covered over 5,000 persons with disabilities across 34 states and UTs.

In its report titled ‘Inclusive Health Coverage for All: Disability, Discrimination and Health Insurance in India’, the NCPEDP states that 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 further claims that many applicants were refused insurance solely based on their disability or pre-existing conditions, with particularly high rejection rates among persons with autism, psychosocial disabilities, intellectual disabilities and blood disorders like thalassemia.

In its list of recommendation, the report outlines the need for immediate inclusion of all persons with disabilities under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, a national public health insurance scheme by the Centre, irrespective of age and income criteria, aligning with the 2024 order that expands coverage to senior citizens above the age of 70.

The report further calls for enhanced coverage for mental health, rehabilitation and assistive technologies and creation of a dedicated disability inclusion committee within Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

“Even as the government expands the 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. 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,” said Arman Ali, Executive Director, NCPEDP.

Indu Bhushan, Ex-Chief Executive Director, Ayushman Bharat said that the Ayushman Bharat packages need to expand their scope from treatment to care.

“The Ayushman Bharat primarily covers hospitalisation and serious illnesses to protect households — whether or not they include persons below the poverty line — from catastrophic health expenditure. The scheme supports persons with disabilities, but it does not cover the full spectrum of health-related expenditures they face,” he added.

Bhushan said that while universal health coverage does not mean free health services for everyone, it must ensure equal access to quality and affordable healthcare. “Persons with disabilities definitely face higher out-of-pocket health expenditure and are as vulnerable as senior citizens above the age of 70,” he said.

Manmeet Kaur Nanda, Additional Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) commented that the department had made it mandatory for all schemes to be integrated with the Unique Disability (UDID) system.

“At Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation Of India (ALIMCO), we are working extensively to produce quality assistive products. While we have not yet reached very high-end technology, we are progressing steadily,” she said.