Awareness about health insurance in rural population of South India

Abstract

Background: In India, despite improvements in access to health care, social inequalities are gross in both rural and urban areas. Many middle and lower socio economic class families are crushed under debts at the time of hospitalization due to lack of health insurance. Health financing is an important part of broader efforts to ensure social protection in health. However "health insurance" is still an unknown word for most rural people. So this study was undertaken with the objective to assess the awareness about Health Insurance in rural areas and to describe the sociodemographic characteristic of respondents. Methods: A cross sectional community based study was done with sample size of 290 households estimated by using 25% national coverage according to Public Health Foundation of India. The study was conducted between July 2014 to August 2014. 290 families were covered from two Primary Health Centres which come under field practice area of our medical college. A pretested semi structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was entered in excel sheet and analysed using SPSS version 17 software. Results: Among 290 respondents 72.5% were in age group of 26-45 years, 69.4% were female, 82.1% belonged to below poverty line, 72.4% were from nuclear family and about 81% of respondents were aware of Health Insurance. Conclusions: Awareness about Health Insurance among rural population was satisfactory. Attention for implementation of health insurance policies has to be paid more importance than only awareness.

Awareness on Health Insurance Among an Urban Community in Imphal: A Crosssectional Study

“…In another study by Priyadarsini SP and Ethirajan N. 6 among selected rural and urban population of Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu only 47.6% in urban and 28.6% in rural were aware about health insurance. This variation in the awareness level may be attributed to the higher proportion of population in the higher socioeconomic status and educational level in our study population as compared to the study by Priyadarsini SP and Ethirajan N. 6 However, in another by Gowda S et al 7 conducted among rural population in South India, awareness about health insurance were high (81%).…”

Pattern of utilization of health insurance in two districts of South Karnataka

“…1 In many countries health is a fundamental human right. 2 The glaring contrast in the state of health between the developed and developing countries, between rural and urban areas and between the rich and poor have attracted worldwide criticism as "social injustice". The commitment of all countries, under the banner of WHO, is to wipe out the inequalities in distribution of health resources and services, and attain Sustainable Development Goals.…”

“…3 Despite large improvements in recent years, life expectancy in India still remains below than other countries following a similar pattern of development. 2 Health outcomes and service provision vary significantly across different states, with only a few providing access to comprehensive basic healthcare services to all. 2 Various studies reveal that in India more than 80 percent of health care financing is mainly in the form of out-ofpocket (OOP) often posing an enormous burden on underprivileged households.…”

“…2 Health outcomes and service provision vary significantly across different states, with only a few providing access to comprehensive basic healthcare services to all. 2 Various studies reveal that in India more than 80 percent of health care financing is mainly in the form of out-ofpocket (OOP) often posing an enormous burden on underprivileged households. 3 The costs are frequently high enough that households are unable to recuperate them from existing resources.…”

“…5 Health insurance policy is a contract between an insurance company and an individual and comes in handy in case of severe emergencies. 6 These insurance system works on the basic principle of "pooling of risks of unexpected costs of persons falling ill and needing hospitalization by charging premium from a wider population base of the same community". 7 This study was undertaken to know the pattern of health insurance utilization in Uttar Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka.…”