In India’s rapidly changing workforce, three groups are challenging the traditional ideas of employment, lifestyle, and especially healthcare: Gen Z, women, and gig workers. Each has distinct needs and expectations. And yet, most healthcare offerings still resemble those built in the 1990s for full-time, salaried male employees, designed around hospitalization, and riddled with fine print.
If we’re serious about building a future-forward healthcare system, we need to design for the real India. That means being inclusive not just in policy language, but in product design, access, and delivery. It’s no longer just about insurance. It's about care, access, and experience.
So, how do we do that? Let’s break it down.
Traditional health insurance in India is hospital-centric. But 90% of healthcare needs are outpatient, think mental health therapy, dental care, skin and hair treatments, fertility, eye checkups, and general preventive care.
Most insurance policies don’t cover these. And even when they do, the process is so cumbersome, many people don’t bother claiming.
Now imagine you’re:
You’re paying out-of-pocket, navigating fragmented care, and often delaying essential treatment. That’s not just a healthcare problem, it’s a workplace and economic productivity problem.
Born after 1997, Gen Z is India’s first digitally born generation. For them, health isn't just the absence of trauma, it is about mental clarity, emotional therapies, skin and body confidence, and sexual wellness.
In a 2023 Deloitte report, 63% of Gen Zs prefer mental health support over hospitalization insurance.
However, most employer health plans still treat mental health support as a '100% paid' luxury, not one of many, if not more essential, pieces of a healthy employee health and wellness management plan.
Gen Z grew up on Swiggy, Blinkit, and Netflix. They don't want to "call customer service" or "file claims," they want health care to be digital, on demand, and transparent.
welUp Insight: There are platforms like welUp that are addressing this clear gap, offering therapy, dermatology, and dentistry via app, all at 0% EMIs.
This aligns with Gen Z's ability to take out cashflow-friendly payments and a resounding trend of needing the health care experience to be more cashflow-friendly and flexible.
Gen Z does not wait to "fall sick" before they reach out for help. Doing therapy to manage their stress, getting their teeth cleaned for aesthetics, and even trying a nutrition consult to feel more energetic.
This cultural shift is ripe for employers; preventive people are cheaper to hire in the long term. However, that only happens if your health care offer maps to that behavior.
Historically, healthcare systems have built systems around masculine physiology and male working patterns. Women have different needs from PCOS and fertility support to perimenopause and postpartum care.
But 80% of corporate insurance plans in India do not cover fertility treatments, egg storage, or menstrual disorders.
And when women need time off for procedures such as IVF, there is either silence or stigma.
Passing on access to inclusive health care is about more than their health; it's about continuity of career, financial independence, and autonomy over their body.
Companies that provide access to fertility support or postpartum therapy do not just invite women to apply; they invite problems if they don’t provide a better support package for both parents that contains mental health options.
welUp Insight: welUp includes treatments and support for fertility consultations, PCOS management, and pre/post-natal care via a network of over 7,000 clinics in 100+ cities.
This means care that travels with them, no matter where they are based or which employer they work for.
Women disproportionately hold the mental and emotional load of care duties, whether for aging parents, sick children, or just the general health of family members in a household - women are commonly the unseen healthcare managers.
Health plans aimed at inclusivity certainly should consider family health access, easy dependent bookings, family therapy type options, or flexible calendar scheduling.
India’s gig economy employs over 7.7 million workers (NITI Aayog, 2022), and this number is expected to reach 23.5 million by 2030.
From delivery executives to freelance designers, they keep our cities running but fall through the cracks of employer-sponsored healthcare.
Gig workers aren’t salaried. They don’t have HR departments. They’re paid per task, and missing a day often means no pay. Hospitalization insurance is of limited use when they can’t afford to miss a day for a doctor visit.
They need affordable, preventive, accessible care, not a ₹5 lakh hospitalization cover they’ll probably never use.
Out-of-pocket expenses are a huge barrier. A simple dental procedure or therapy session can cost ₹2,000–₹5,000. For someone earning weekly wages, that’s prohibitive.
welUp Insight: welUp offers a ₹5 lakh credit line at 0% EMI, usable across everyday services so gig workers can pay for dental surgery or mental health consults in small, manageable chunks.
No paperwork, no stress.
Inclusive healthcare must decouple care from corporate employment. That’s the only way to serve freelancers, contract staff, delivery partners, and even creators.
Gig platforms like Zomato or Urban Company can partner with healthcare providers like welUp to offer portable benefits; healthcare that sticks with the worker, not the job.
Designing inclusive healthcare offerings isn't just about adding services; it’s about rethinking delivery, language, access, and culture.
Here’s a framework to guide product designers, HR heads, and founders.
Who are you designing for? Build user personas: a 25-year-old female manager navigating PCOS, a 22-year-old male gig worker juggling two jobs, a 30-year-old queer person seeking mental health care.
Talk to them. Ask what “good healthcare” means to them. It will surprise you how many say “therapy” or “dermatologist” before “ICU”.
Shift focus from hospitalization to the daily 99% of needs:
welUp Insight: welUp’s product is built from the ground up for these services as add-ons, but also as core offerings. That’s a design mindset shift others can learn from.
Don’t just offer therapy; normalise it. Include anonymous options. Promote it via leadership. Avoid gatekeeping (“only for family members above 18…”).
Design your healthcare app or dashboard like a consumer product, not a bureaucratic maze.
One of the most inclusive things you can do is make healthcare affordable without surprises. That means:
welUp Insight: With its focus on 0% EMI across services, welUp lets users access care today and pay over time, not when they’re in crisis.
Don’t just track “hospital claims used.” Measure:
This data can help evolve offerings from “tick-the-box” to “life-changing.”
If you're a CHRO, founder, or People team lead, you’re not just offering a benefit. You’re shaping how your people feel, heal, and live.
Offering hospitalization insurance is not enough anymore. Employees expect:
And they’re right to.
Platforms like welUp are stepping in where traditional insurance falters. By offering preventive, outpatient-first, flexible care across categories like mental health, fertility, and fitness, welUp is changing what it means to be "covered."
Gen Z is redefining health. Women are demanding equity. Gig workers are claiming their right to care. The question isn’t whether you’ll design for them. It’s whether you’ll do it before or after they leave your company for one that does. Inclusive healthcare isn’t charity. It’s smart business, real leadership, and humanity in action.
If you're ready to make the shift, welUp is here to help.