Non-profit Insurance Schemes for the Unorganised Sector in India

This paper provides an overview of existing non-profit health insurance schemes for the unorganized sector in India.

The paper makes the following points:

• Formal security arrangements cover only about 10% of the labor force in India;
• A range of civil society organizations have experimented with security provision mechanisms over an extended period of time;
• There are associations, unions, cooperatives, self-help groups and non-government organizations (NGOs) offering insurance products for the unorganized sector.

The study:

• Examines the Indian public and private health care systems and the major features of Indian insurance products;
• Studies existing literature and secondary information in order to provide an overview of all informal health insurance schemes in India;
• Presents detailed case studies of the following non-profit health insurance schemes:
  • The Mathadi Hospital Trust,
  • Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA),
  • Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC),
  • Tribhuvandas Foundation.

The study states that:

• Establishing the necessary basic infrastructure for health insurance will be an expensive, demanding and time consuming exercise;
• A federation of non-profit organizations offering similar insurance schemes is one way in which economies of scale can be achieved.

The study concludes with recommendations for quasi-insurers, such as SEWA, for intermediary organizations and for community-based health insurance schemes.