Health Policy Challenges for India: Private Health Insurance and Lessons from the International Community

Publication Date: 2001
Published by: Global Development Network (GDN)
Document Type: Paper

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What can India learn from the experiences of international community with regards to health insurance?

This paper looks at the opportunities in the private health insurance sector in India. It analyzes the policy environment in the country and discusses:

• India’s achievements in health sector;
  
• Relevant Government intervention in the health sector;
  
• Cost, equity, and quality of medical care in India;
  
• Quality of medical inputs in India;
  
• Consumer protection laws and their implementation.

The paper makes an assessment of impacts and regulatory issues related to private health insurance in India. It studies:

• Private health insurance and aggregate costs of health care;
  
• Aggregate cost implications of private insurance;
  
• Quality of health care;
  
• Equity implications of private health insurance.

Finally, the paper presents experiences of various countries with different types of health insurance models and their implications for India:

• United Kingdom: National Health Service;
  
• Netherlands/Israel/Germany: Social Insurance;
  
• Canada: “National” Health Insurance;
  
• Singapore: Compulsory Insurance/Fee for Service/Medical savings.