A Fine Balance:* A Case Study of the Client Value of Health Microinsurance-Uplift I.A.
*With apologies to Rohinton Mistry
Is microinsurance a good deal for the poor? Although various pilots have been launched in recent years, the value microinsurance offers the poor is not well understood. There is increasing interest in assessing the client value of microinsurance, even as the concept of client value itself is still under debate (Magnoni & Zimmerman, 2010; Matul, Tatin-Jaleran & Kelly 2011, forthcoming). Similarly, for health microinsurance, the most studied of any microinsurance product, questions remain about the value it provides, including the fundamental one about whether it protects low-income people financially.
This report from Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) contributes to the debate by examining the client value offered by a mutual-based community-managed health insurance model implemented by Uplift India Association. MFO focused on one component of client value, financial value, and examined whether and how Uplift provides financial value to its members. For the purposes of this paper financial value was defined as: the value that policyholders obtain when claims are made (Magnoni and Zimmerman, 2010). Uplift's health insurance program (referred to as the health mutual fund, of HMF) provides: coverage for inpatient care on a reimbursement basis and within a large hospital network; access to lower cost outpatient care, medicines and medical tests; as well as health education and health promotion services.
