Insurance coverage under different health schemes in Uttar Pradesh, India

BackgroundHealth insurance is advocated as a means for improving healthcare utilization, reducing rising healthcare cost and protecting households against impoverishment by high medical expenses. This study addresses the research question that whether health insurance schemes have been able to provide financial risk protection to a larger segment of the society?ObjectiveThe study aims to review the status of Health Insurance Schemes in terms of providing financial risk protection to the people in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India.Data and methodsThe present study is drawn from the unit level records of the 71st round of National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). Out of this nationwide survey, we considered only UP for this study. Data were analyzed using STATA 13.0. We used bivariate cross-tabulations to highlight salient feature of insurance coverage with socio-economic and demographic characteristics.ResultsThe results reveal that the government funded insurance schemes (Employee State Insurance Scheme (ESIS), Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) and Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS)) and others have succeeded to provide financial support to a very limited population. Only 4.8% population are covered by any health insurance scheme in UP.ConclusionReducing high out-of-pocket expenditure through health insurance coverage is a major concern, and therefore, there is a need to maximize the coverage under different health insurance schemes in UP. Otherwise, growing number of people will keep falling into poverty in the future.