VISTA Health Solutions

Health insurance in poor countries is a tricky situation at the best of times, as most people’s health insurance premiums are much higher than their ability to pay for them, and when these poor people fall ill and require treatment they are often led to borrow money from moneylenders at an extremely high rate of interest.

Some believe that the only way to be able to offer these poor people affordable health insurance coverage and protection is through the establishment of a mutual health insurance plan, which can be managed at the community level, but this represents a couple of huge challenges in these poor countries.

1. Finding a health distribution system, which can be established and run at a low cost?

1. Finding a method, which would allow handling a large number of insurances, with low premium costs?

It is believed that the first step could be handled by drawing on many small villages, pooling the low cost insurance premiums, and having a local community organization administer the program, with each community governing the mutual and how it is implemented and maintained.

To maintain lower costs, these micro-insurance companies would have to arrange with local hospitals and doctors to provide stationary care, and less visits to the larger, more expensive health centers in the bigger cities.  It is believed by doing this; these micro-insurance companies can work a deal with pharmaceutical companies to provide medicines at lower prices as well.

Using this system doctors the micro-insurance companies trust would act as monitors and recommend patients to specific hospitals, where costs are lower, protects the micro-insurance company from fraudulent supply claims, while ensuring patients do not fall through the cracks.

The question is…Is it practical offering health insurance in rural areas where there is little in the way of medical infrastructure?

Currently, there is a micro-insurance mutual being beta-tested called CARE India, and today, reports are stating that after one year, it was found that eighty to ninety percent of all cases could be dealt with at a community level.  This report also found that healthcare education was a major factor in people living healthier and happier lives, thereby avoiding risky health situations and outbreaks.

Unlike here in America, in many third world poor countries, even water is not plentiful and although we take it for granted every day, what would happen here to the spread of disease if you could not wash your hands, or didn’t know that you should, every time you touched someone or something that was contaminated?  Interesting thought though, isn’t it?