Willingness to pay for rural health insurance through community participation in India
Mathiyazhagan, K.
International Journal of Health Planning and Management 13(1): 47-67
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0749-6753 PMID: 10178583 DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1751(199801/03)13:1<47::aid-hpm495>3.0.co;2-iDocument Number: 533059
An examination is presented of the willingness to pay for a viable rural health insurance scheme through community participation in India, and the policy concerns it engenders. The willingness to pay for a rural health insurance scheme through community participation is estimated through a contingent valuation approach (logit model), by using the rural household survey on health from Karnataka in India. The results show that insurance/saving schemes are popular in rural areas. In fact, people have relatively good knowledge of insurance schemes (especially life insurance) rather than saving schemes. Most of the people stated they are willing to join and pay for the proposed rural health insurance scheme. However, the probability of willingness to join was found to be greater than the probability of willingness to pay. Indeed, socioeconomic factors and physical accessibility to quality health services appeared to be significant determinants of willingness to join and pay for such a scheme. The main justification for the willingness to pay for a proposed rural health insurance scheme are attributed from household survey results: (a) the existing government health care provider's services is not quality oriented; (b) is not easily accessible; and, (c) is not cost effective. The discussion suggests that policy makers in India should take serious note of the growing influence of the private sector and people's willingness to pay for organizing a rural health insurance scheme to provide quality and efficient health care in India.