Resource
India: Yeshasvini Co-operative Farmers Health Scheme (Karnataka)
Building a public-private-community partnership model
Summary (English)
The Yeshasvini scheme was conceived in 2002 as a huge effort to extend access of health care services to the poor. The problem of access was linked to the impossibility for the poor to pay for the expected services.To overcome this problem a private Trust was set up, regrouping several prominent public and private individuals. The Trust approached various insurance companies around the implementation of the scheme. However, low profitability and high risk lead to little interest from these companies. The Trust opted for a self-funding scheme.The Yeshasvini scheme developed then a farfledged linkage experience, which proved to be successful enough to become, as early as in Year I of its operations, India's largest health micro-insurance scheme.Since then, the scheme has succeeded to enroll around 2 million people, providing surgical interventions in increasing number, OPD interventions, help desk to assist policyhholders, and some other services.As of today, the Yeshasvini scheme remains confronted with major challenges such as findingappropriate ways to reduce the adverse selection phenomenon and broadening the scope of benefits provided to its members. Although still not the perfect working model to be used for replication in other States, it already demonstrates how effective a broad linkage model proves to be in applying practical solutions to the implementation of a very large health insurance scheme.
Note
Series: Social Security Extension Innovations in Asia ILO Subregional Office for South Asia