What is it about?
This study looks at whether joining a community-based health insurance (CBHI) program in poor, rural areas of India can help people get better healthcare and avoid going into debt when they’re sick. It focuses on three key questions: Does insurance reduce the need for self-medication (buying medicine without seeing a doctor)? Does it protect families from having to borrow money at high interest to pay for health expenses? Can it help improve a household’s financial standing over time? The study followed thousands of families in three rural districts across three years, using advanced statistical methods to compare those who joined the insurance with those who didn’t.
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Why is it important?
In many parts of rural India, people cannot afford to go to a doctor when sick, so they buy medicine independently or borrow money, often at high interest, to pay for basic treatment. Over time, this can trap them in illness and poverty. This study shows that people who had CBHI: They were less likely to rely on self-medication and more likely to see a doctor; They were less likely to borrow money at high interest rates for healthcare. Had better chances of moving up in the local income distribution. In other words, health insurance helped people live more secure and healthier lives.
Perspectives
For policymakers, this is evidence that voluntary, locally managed health insurance can provide both health and financial protection, even in poor, rural settings without government subsidies. For practitioners, the success of these schemes depends on involving the community in designing the benefits and maintaining high trust. For researchers, the findings question common assumptions about how people make healthcare decisions in poverty, showing that insurance can shift behavior and long-term economic outcomes. For donors and development actors: Supporting community-led insurance schemes may be a sustainable way to extend healthcare access in underserved regions.
Dr David Mark Dror
Micro Insurance Academy
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Impact of community-based health insurance in rural India on self-medication & financial protection of the insured, International Journal of Microbiology Research, January 2016, Medknow,
DOI: 10.4103/0971-5916.192075.
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