Paper

Costs and Benefits of Health Microinsurance Premium Loans and Linkages with Health Providers: CARD's Experience in the Philippines

What is the financial impact of CARD’s health protection schemes on the MFI itself?

Freedom from Hunger Research Paper No. 10B documents the costs and benefits associated with Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD) delivery of two distinct sets of health protection services developed and pilot-tested in two different geographic areas of the Philippines as part of the Microfinance and Health Protection (MAHP) initiative in partnership with Freedom from Hunger from 2006 through 2009. It explores the hypothesis that MFIs can feasibly offer health-related services by combining financial revenues and nonfinancial benefits that indirectly improve the MFIs financial position.

The paper discusses two health protection schemes, namely, a health microinsurance premium loan, linkage and education package, and a Preferred Provider Program (PPP) that links microfinance clients to private, primary health care at discounted rates. It concludes that:

  • The PhilHealth premium-loan package will soon be profitable in and of itself and appears to have additional indirect benefits for CARD;
  • The PPP has not generated direct income, but is a low-cost social add-on and marketing tool that can have other indirect benefits for CARD.

The paper takes into account the planned investment in intensive growth for PPP over the coming years and projects that the PPP will become profitable in 2012, when about 55,000 clients will be enrolled.

About this Publication

By Reinsch, M., Metcalfe, M. et al
Published