Identification of Community Characteristics and Perceptions Toward Health and Life Insurance in Rural Indonesia

Abstract

A lower quality of life than urban dwellers makes rural residents less likely to take insurance products. Identification of characteristics and perceptions of rural communities towards health and life insurance is the aim of this study to see what problems make villagers less concerned about insurance. This study uses a mixed method that combines percentage analysis with qualitative analysis to see problems in rural areas related to insurance. There are three perceptions of rural communities towards insurance. First, insurance is an important but not too urgent need, secondly, the obligation to purchase insurance products by the government and assistance by companies is the main factor, and lastly, purchasing private insurance products is only to get better service and complement national insurance. There are seven group characters of rural residents who use insurance. Unawareness and ignorance of insurance made 15% of respondents not have insurance from government programs while convenience and flexibility in services made 11% of respondents use private insurance.
 Keywords: rural resident, perception, insurance