New health insurance ideas help India

A pilot project to evaluate the concept of community-based health insurance (CBHI) in India will help empower communities with new ways to upgrade healthcare.

CBHI schemes have the potential to revolutionise healthcare among poor populations in Asian countries such as India. In theory, these schemes increase access to healthcare and provide financial protection, in addition to helping mobilise additional resources for health funding.

The EU-funded project 'Developing efficient and responsive community based micro health insurance in India' (CBHI INDIA) built a comprehensive knowledge base for micro health insurance initiatives in the country. The project established three new showcase micro insurance units (MIUs) in the country and evaluated their impact on the population in terms of healthcare access and financial protection over several years. It implemented a new model of CBHI involving entire communities and all household members, based on participative administration, community rating mechanisms and mobilisation of social capital to ensure success.

In effect, the project was able to outline the impact of CBHI on the quantity, quality and cost of local healthcare supply, representing the first study of its kind over a four-year period. It analysed the financial and social opportunities of shifting the administrative burden to a more local level, which would ultimately help in drafting better healthcare policies.

More details can be found at the following link: http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=OFFR_TM_EN&ACTION=D&RCN=10912