Abstract
Introduction: Health insurance is fast emerging as an important mechanism to finance health care needs of the people. With improved literacy, modest rise in outcomes and rapid spread of print and electronic media, there is greater awareness and increasing demand for better health services.
Objective: To assess the perception of health insurance among residents of Western UP.
Material & Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried among rural and urban population of Moradabad Uttar Pradesh. 500 household were taken for the study purpose. A predesigned questionnaire was used to assess the awareness of public about health insurance.
Results: Out of 500 participants Overall 62% of the residents had knowledge regarding health insurance, while 11% had not heard about it. Individuals residing in urban area were more (71%) aware regarding health insurance than people living in rural areas (53%). Around 63.5% of the respondents derived the information about health insurance schemes from media which played a vital role in the dissemination of information. The middle and low socio-economic groups preferred government health insurance over private.
Conclusion: There is a need to improve level of awareness about health insurance. It is a necessity of life as all individuals suffer from any disease or health related problem at any time of their life. Therefore, it should be acquired by all for future security as it decreases the burden of high medical expenses.
Keywords: Health insurance, Awareness, premium.
References
- Balarajan Y, Selvaraj S, Subramanian S V. India: Towards Universal Health Coverage 4.Health care and equity in India. Lancet 2011: 377; 505–15
- Peters DH, Yazbeck AS, Sharma RP. Better Health Systems for India’s Poor: Findings, Analysis and Options, World Bank, Washington D.C; 2002.
- Ahuja, R. “health insurance for the poor in India: an analytical study”Indian council for research on international economic relations. working paper no.161.2005 http://www.icrier.org/pdf/wp161.pdf
- Reddy K S, Selvaraj S, Rao KD, Chokshi M, Kumar P, Arora V et al. A Critical Assessment of the Existing Health Insurance Models in India. The Planning Commission of India, New Delhi. 31st January 2011.
- Shiva kumar AK, Chen LC, Choudhury M, Ganju S, Mahajan V, Sinha A et al. India: Towards Universal Health Coverage 6 Financing health care for all: challenges and opportunities.2011;Published online January 12, 2011 DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61884-3.
- Fred A, Parasuraman S, Parokiasamy P, Kothari M. Nutrition in India. National Family Health Survey(NFHS-3) India. Mumbai: International Institute For Population Sciences; Calverton Maryland, USA:ICF Macro 2005-06
- Futures C. Health Insurance Needs, Awareness and Assessment in theBahraich District, Uttar Pradesh USAID INDIA; 2008.
- Yellaiah J. Awareness of health insurance in Andhra Pradesh. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications. 2012;2(6):1-6
- Kumar S. Awareness about health insurance and willingness to pay. J Academy Hospital Administration. 1999; 36:139–46.
- Dinesh GP.The Behavioural Patterns of Consumers towards Health Insurance: A Case Study of Consumers at Bellary City. 2011. icmis.net/infoms/icoqm10/ICOQM10CD/pdf/P703-Final.pdf June 28-30, 2011
- Reshmi B, Nair NS, Sabu KM, Unnikrishan B. Awareness of health insurance in a south Indian population: A community based study. Health and Population Perspectives and issues. 2008; 30:177–88.
- Patro BK, Anand K and Kapoor BK. Health Insurance: AnAssessment of Community Perception and Willingness to Pay in A Rural Area,Unpublished Article. HIFCON. 2004
- Madhukumar S, Sudeepa D, Gaikwad V.Awareness and perception regarding health insurance in Bangalore rural population. Int. J. Med. Public health.2012;2(2): 18-22.
- Gumber A and Kulkarni V .Health Insurance for Informal Sector – ACase Study of Gujarat, Economic and Political Weekly.2000; 35: 30.
Corresponding Author
Dr Shweta Yadav
Professor & Head, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology,
Government Medical College, Shivpuri (MP), Sailar Ki Goth,
Kampoonala Road, Lashkar, Gwalior (MP), India
Mobile: - 8059491822, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.