Delivering Micro Health Insurance Through the National Rural Health Mission
This paper highlights challenges in financing health care in India. It examines the role of insurance in health financing and proposes an operational framework for developing sustainable health insurance models under the National Rural Health Mission.
The paper discusses the key challenges in reforming health financing namely, increasing government spending on primary health care, addressing supply and demand factors that prevent the poor from accessing health services and minimizing out-of-pocket expenditure for the poor. It explores risk pooling and transfer mechanisms and highlights benefits of health insurance. These include:
- Reducing vulnerability and smoothening expenditure shocks through risk pooling;
- Increased utilization of health services;
- Standardized and cost-effective health care;
- Cover for access barriers such as loss of wages and transportation cost, and for emerging diseases;
- Development of strong referral linkages;
- Greater efficiency in health care.
The paper discusses health insurance models for the poor and proposes formation of a national apex body to coordinate the micro health insurance sector. It suggests piloting of partner agent model-based micro health insurance, to gain insights for designing a national level program.
