Leveraging Health Microinsurance to Promote Universal Health Coverage

This paper reviews key statistics and characteristics of major health insurance schemes in Ghana, Thailand, Kenya, Philippines, India, Tanzania, and Cambodia. It examines the hypothesis that government-sponsored insurance initiatives should collaborate with private actors to accelerate the expansion of health insurance to informal workers and their families. The findings suggest four roles in which Health Microinsurance (HMI) schemes and other private actors can be leveraged to promote Universal Health Coverage (UHC): substitute, foundation, partnership and supplement. While the nature of collaboration between the government and private actors changes over time and can differ according to context, there is an on-going role for HMI in supporting government initiatives and improving access to quality healthcare services or financial protection.