DEMAND FOR MICRO INSURANCE OF HEALTH AMONG INFORMAL WORKERS: A DISCRETE CHOICE EXPERIMENT IN INDIA

Abstract

Micro-Insurance of Health (MHI) is considered as one of the possible instruments in reducing impoverishing effects of catastrophic out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure for the households in lower-income strata of the developing countries. MHI schemes can complement a publicly funded healthcare system within a specific local context. The present study attempts to investigate the demand for MHI among informal workforce using a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE). In any DCE application we can determine the characteristics that describe a product and to what extent the respondent is willing to trade-off one characteristic to another. Our DCE in West Bengal (India) suggests that, any MHI scheme with low premium, transport coverage, full family coverage, cash-back facility and comprehensive benefit will encourage enrolment.