Costs and benefits of microfinance institutions offering health protection services to clients

Reinsch, Myka; Dunford, Christopher; Metcalfe, Marcia

doi:10.3362/1755-1986.2011.026

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Financial education can improve the success of projects funded by microfinance by increasing participants' knowledge of financial planning (Gray et al, 2009). In some cases, microfinance programmes have been coupled with supplemental health interventions to improve information flows about health and nutrition (Reinsch et al, 2011). Hence, conceptually through an information or education channel, women are potentially better able to convert cash into calories or food diversity if they are in a microcredit programme.…”

Section: The Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microcredit Programme Participation and Household Food Security in Rural Bangladesh

Islam¹,

Maitra²,

Pakrashi³

et al. 2016

J Agricultural Economics

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Lack of access to credit prevents poor households in developing countries from diversifying into income‐generating activities that could safeguard them against unforeseen shocks and seasonality, leaving them susceptible to food deprivation, even when aggregate food supplies are adequate. Microcredit programmes help these households to access financial capital that could help improve their food security situation. We examine how microcredit affects different measures of food security; namely, household calorie availability, dietary diversity indicators and anthropometric status of women of reproductive age (15–49 years) and children under the age of 5 years. We find that microcredit programme participation increases calorie availability both at the intensive and extensive margins, but does not improve dietary diversity and only has mixed effects on the anthropometric measures. We also find that the effect of microcredit participation on food security may be non‐linear in which participation initially has either no effect on food security or may actually worsen it, before improving it in the longer run. Our results help to explain why existing short‐term evaluations of microcredit sometimes do not show any positive effects.

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Section: The Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microcredit Programme Participation and Household Food Security in Rural Bangladesh

Islam¹,

Maitra²,

Pakrashi³

et al. 2016

J Agricultural Economics

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“…Medical loans are designed for large health expenses with lower interest rates and long repayment periods ( 34 ), or flexible repayment terms ( 35 ). But for the poor, healthcare expenditure is already catastrophic, and payments due for medical loans may mitigate healthcare costs, but not necessarily reduce them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining Microfinance and Health in Reducing Poverty-Driven Healthcare Costs: Evidence From the Philippines

Aranas

Khanam

Rahman

et al. 2020

Front. Public Health

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The role of microfinance in alleviating poverty and poor health is significant. Its health programs have been shown to improve healthcare utilization and strengthen a healthcare system. In the Philippines, microfinance's widespread presence is seen as instrumental in achieving the objectives of Healthy Philippines 2022 , particularly in reducing poverty-driven healthcare costs. However, little is known on how microfinance can reduce the cost of healthcare services and treatment. Also, few studies that consider the practice of integrated microfinance and health programs in the Philippines have been seen. Secondary data was used to explore the structure and function of microfinance and health initiatives and their influence in mitigating healthcare costs. A review criterion was developed to examine the data using the three key elements identified in Ruducha and Jadhav's framework: organisational arrangement, health products and health outcomes. Findings revealed that most health initiatives are delivered through partnerships and collaboration, could favour a reduction in healthcare costs and protection from out-of-pocket health expenditure. They are designed to operate in three structures—subsidised or outreach, microinsurance and health loans, and patronage refunds. The cooperative's business venture providing pharmaceuticals facilitated access to affordable medicine and offered its members financial viability. Health loans and microinsurance also offered healthcare cost reductions; however, uptakes are low. The study found no data to assess the output of the completed health initiatives. More studies that will evaluate the integrated MFI health initiatives are recommended to further identify gaps, outcomes, or impacts of the program.

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“…To address challenges to general health–care-seeking behavior, men made several recommendations that can be incorporated into future microfinance interventions. The first recommendation was to incorporate a health insurance component, which is consistent with the approach several MFIs have used in other countries including, but not limited to, Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, India, and the Philippines (Reinsch et al, 2011). Health protection services offered by some MFIs vary from health micro-insurance to linkages to health providers and access to health products (Lorenzetti et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfinance and Peer Health Leadership Intervention Implementation for Men in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: A Qualitative Assessment of Perceived Economic and Health Outcomes

et al. 2020

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Men in sub-Saharan Africa continue to experience health disparities that are exacerbated by low employment. This study qualitatively assessed men’s perceptions of the economic and health-care-seeking effects of participation in an integrated microfinance and peer health leadership intervention on violence and HIV risk reduction in Tanzania. Three focus group discussions with 27 men, aged 20 to 44 years, examined the perceived effects on income generation, employability, mental health, and uptake of HIV and related health services. All discussions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using deductive and inductive coding methods. Men reported that the benefits of the intervention included increased employability and income-earning activities due to greater access to entrepreneurial training, low-interest microfinancing, and male-oriented group supports to start or strengthen their businesses. Increased wages through business or other forms of employment were also attributed to men’s lower anxiety and distress as financial providers for their families. However, men indicated that apart from the uptake of free HIV testing services, there was limited change in overall health-care-seeking behavior given the high clinic fees and lost time to earn income when attending routine health visits. Men recommended that future microfinance and health promotion interventions provide larger loan amounts, less frequent repayment intervals, and access to health and social insurance. Microfinance and peer health leadership interventions may help to address economic and health disparities in poor, urban men. Efforts are needed to assist lower income men in accessing financial tools as well as fee-based preventive and health-care services.

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Costs and benefits of microfinance institutions offering health protection services to clients

Cited by 9 publications

References 4 publications

Microcredit Programme Participation and Household Food Security in Rural Bangladesh

Microcredit Programme Participation and Household Food Security in Rural Bangladesh

Combining Microfinance and Health in Reducing Poverty-Driven Healthcare Costs: Evidence From the Philippines

Microfinance and Peer Health Leadership Intervention Implementation for Men in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: A Qualitative Assessment of Perceived Economic and Health Outcomes

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