Do Spouses Make Claims? Health Seeking and Microfinance In India

Abstract

We study a micro-finance program that provides compulsory health insurance to its borrowers and their spouses. We find that the non-borrowing spouses are less likely to file insurance claims than those who are borrowing. Further, a man is more likely to use the health insurance acquired through his wife's loan than is a woman (through her husband's loan). These patterns suggest that women who do not borrow are disempowered relative to those that do.