What makes Carepal Secure’s crowdfunding approach unique in health protection? | Mint

In 2001, Indians’ out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) on healthcare was approximately 74% due to poor health insurance penetration, lack of corporate healthcare regulations, and the rising costs of treating critical diseases. Although government spending on healthcare infrastructure has marginally increased and various government schemes have been introduced, OOPE still accounts for 50% of all health expenses. This raises the question: is financial protection in healthcare improving or is it an illusion?

Approximately 90% of central and state government schemes target the economically disadvantaged, leading to the phenomenon of the “Missing Middle.” According to Niti Aayog, at least 30% of the population, or 40 crore individuals, lack any financial protection for health.

The United States, despite leading the world in healthcare infrastructure spending at 17.3% of GDP and having a health insurance penetration rate of 91% in 2022, saw $1 billion raised through healthcare crowdfunding in the same year. This underscores the universal need for financial support in healthcare.

“When we first started Impact Guru, we didn’t think of it as a substitute for health insurance,” says Piyush Jain, Founder and CEO of Carepal Group. Over the past eight years, Impact Guru has raised over ₹1000 crore, helping more than 50,000 patients.

“We built the platform considering the staggering treatment costs of rare and critical diseases, where costs could range from ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore to even ₹16 crore (e.g., SMA),” says Pankaj Nawani, CEO of Carepal Secure. “But we saw more people wanting to raise funds from ₹10 lakh to ₹25 lakh and beyond.”

To bridge this gap, Carepal Secure was born.

When individuals and their families begin raising funds on Impact Guru’s crowdfunding platform, they quickly realise the importance of health insurance and the need for high coverage and comprehensive plans. This awareness often extends to the supporters of these causes as well.

Many have heard the health insurance sales pitch: “What if something happens to you in the future?” Agents often depict a scenario where hospitalisation depletes one’s savings, forcing them to seek help or sell assets to cover medical expenses.

Carepal Secure transforms these hypothetical scenarios into real-life experiences. By providing protection plans for fundraisers and their supporters, the tangible struggles of patients and their families highlight the urgent need for health protection, a product traditionally considered a push.

Carepal Secure offers comprehensive products that cover hospitalisation costs and protect against day-to-day healthcare expenses such as doctor consultations, discounts on medicines and lab tests, and post-treatment care. This sets Carepal Secure apart from traditional brokers, making their products unique in the market.

Moreover, Carepal Secure unit economics are superior to those of traditional brokers. A successful health protection business relies on low acquisition costs and book building. Traditional brokers generating leads online face high lead acquisition costs and low persistence.

In contrast, Carepal Secure benefits from low or no acquisition costs due to customer acquisition through their crowdfunding engine and high persistence due to the high utilisation of primary health products, providing daily value to customers beyond hospitalisation.

To date, Carepal Secure has over 100,000 paying customers and covers over 400,000 lives under various health protection packages.

By integrating crowdfunding with comprehensive health protection, Carepal Secure is revolutionising community-based health protection. This model allows individuals to support each other’s healthcare needs while emphasising the importance of robust health insurance coverage.