Towards universal health coverage in India: a historical examination of the genesis of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana - The health insurance scheme for low-income groups

Public Health
A K Virk, Rifat Atun

Abstract

Many low- and middle-income countries have introduced State-funded health programmes for vulnerable groups as part of global efforts to universalise health coverage. Similarly, India introduced the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) in 2008, a publicly-funded national health insurance scheme for people below the poverty line. The authors explore the RSBY's genesis and early development in order to understand its conceptualisation and design principles and thereby establish a baseline for assessing RSBY's performance in the future. Qualitative case study of the RSBY in Delhi. This paper presents results from documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with senior-level policymakers including the former Labour Minister, central government officials and affiliates, and technical specialists from the World Bank and GIZ. With national priorities focused on broader economic development goals, the RSBY was conceptualised as a social investment in worker productivity and future economic growth in India. Hence, efficiency, competition, and individual choice rather than human needs or egalitarian access were overriding concerns for RSBY designers. This measured approach was strongly reflected in RSBY's financing and benefit st...Continue Reading

References

Jun 25, 2002·Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health·A Bowling
Apr 25, 2009·Tropical Medicine & International Health : TM & IH·Manuela De AllegriSteffen Flessa
Mar 3, 2012·The Indian Journal of Medical Research·David M Dror, Sukumar Vellakkal
Jul 3, 2013·Lancet·Rifat AtunRecep Akdağ
Aug 22, 2013·Health Research Policy and Systems·Narayanan DevadasanBart Criel

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Citations

Feb 2, 2016·Anthropology & Medicine·Tanja AhlinGopukrishnan Pillai
Oct 21, 2017·The International Journal of Health Planning and Management·Satarupa Bandyopadhyay, Kasturi Sen
Oct 30, 2020·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Manuela De AllegriNishant Jain

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