Social Health Insurance as a Complementary Financing Mechanism for Universal Health Coverage in India

Abstract

The paper explores the role that Social Health Insurance (SHI), as an organisational mechanism for raising and pooling additional funds, can play in financing health services in India. It formulates an SHI concept and its aims for India and examines case studies of different countries that have sought to finance their health services through SHI to see what lessons they offer for India and suggests a suitable design for India. It then estimates the volumes of tax revenues and payroll contributions that may be obtainable by India through SHI. Towards the end it also outlines some of the important design elements that need to be kept in mind for a successful implementation of an SHI scheme in India and identifies some of the important political and macro-level conditions that would be necessary to implement SHI in India.