Paradox of rural health insurance schemes in Tanzania: policy implication

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide a descriptive analysis of the paradox of rural health insurance scheme in Tanzania, taking the case of Manyoni district. The study examined willingness and ability to pay for community health funds (CHFs) among community members as well as the modus operandi of the fund. It employed a cross sectional design on a random sample of 96 heads of households from Kintinku ward. Data were collected through health insurance consumer survey, documentary review and focus group discussions. The results show that sustainability of CHF is questionable since CHF covers less than 10% of the community members not only because of income poverty, but also due to information asymmetry. Thus, CHF remains a paradox and thus calls for health insurance policy review to take note of the ability to pay, willingness to pay and availability of services to the members.