Micro-insurance and Health Care in Developing Countries - An International Picture
This paper describes the ways in which micro-insurance institutions can fit into the local health care situation. The paper uses information taken from a seminar entitled Mutual Health Insurance in search of success factors learned through Belgian field experience in developing countries organized by Belgian Raiffeisen Foundation (BRS) and others.
The paper describes microinsurance institutions as institutions not only pooling financial resources of local people but also negotiating with medical personnel to improve the quality of services provided and give advice and information to their members.
It argues that microinsurance institutions can play an important role in improving access to health care, and finds the following other advantages of microinsurance institutions as:
- Better organization and quality of health care provisions;
- Contribution to furthering democratic management in health care services;
- Promotion of general welfare and social integration of members.
The paper lists down important steps towards formation of micro-insurance institutions and describes the problems encountered while starting-up of a microinsurance institution.
The paper also discusses financial viability and the role of re-insurance of microinsurance institutions in achievement of financial viability. It cites examples from different countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, to support these findings.
