According to the survey released on Tuesday, on an average, families in Punjab spend 44.9% of their income on health problems and the families in Haryana spend 40% of their income on health expences.  

The survey, conducted by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and Max New York Life Insurance, found that "in Punjab, for an average household income of Rs.77,325, the annual health expenses are Rs.34,729, which is 44.9 percent of the income".

"Similarly, in Haryana and Chandigarh, the annual expenses on health care are 40.9 percent and 59.4 percent of their respective annual household incomes," said Rajender Sud, director and head of agency distribution, Max New York Life Insurance.

The survey covered 2000 villages and 342 towns across 23 states. Punjab stands ninth in ranking with a health index of 0.655 and Haryana stands nineteenth, with a health index of 0.473. Total health insurance penetration in India is only 1.2 percent, whereas in the US it is 84 percent of the total population, the report said.

Spending on health in Haryana and Punjab is “Substantial and it is causing a dent on household incomes in the two states,” said Rajinder Sud. “With the growing incidence of diseases due to changing lifestyle, health insurance is recognized as one of the primary protection needs for all the family members. It should be an essential aspect of financial planning of every household,” he added.

Sud said, the facts of the study would be an eye opener and make the health insurance of utmost important for every Indian.