Understanding perception and factors influencing private voluntary health insurance policy subscription in the Lucknow region.

Tanuj Mathur,Subodh Chandra Das,Himanshu Narayan Prasad,Ujjwal Kanti Paul

doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2015.08

Abstract

Health insurance has been acknowledged by researchers as a valuable tool in health financing. In spite of its significance, a subscription paralysis has been observed in India for this product. People who can afford health insurance are also found to be either ignorant or aversive towards it. This study is designed to investigate into the socio-economic factors, individuals' health insurance product perception and individuals' personality traits for unbundling the paradox which inhibits people from subscribing to health insurance plans. This survey was conducted in the region of Lucknow. An online questionnaire was sent to sampled respondents. Response evinced by 263 respondents was formed as a part of study for the further data analysis. For assessing the relationships between variables T-test and F-test were applied as a part of quantitative measuring tool. Finally, logistic regression technique was used to estimate the factors that influence respondents' decision to purchase health insurance. Age, dependent family members, medical expenditure, health status and individual's product perception were found to be significantly associated with health insurance subscription in the region. Personality traits have also showed a positive relationship with respondent's insurance status. We found in our study that socio-economic factors, individuals' product perception and personality traits induces health insurance policy subscription in the region.

Highlights

Over two-third of the Indian populace do not possess any form of health insurance cover
Of the 320 million Indians who are covered, 2.9 million are enrolled under the Private Voluntary Health Insurance (PVHI)1 plans, 63 million through Employee State Insurance Scheme (ESIS) and Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and the remainder 254 million people are covered through other government managed social health insurance schemes and communitybased schemes [1]
The total healthcare expenditure in India accounts for a 6% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of which 66.9% of its composition consists of Out-of-Pocket (OOP) payments according to the World Health Organization (WHO) report

Summary

Introduction

Over two-third of the Indian populace do not possess any form of health insurance cover. Of the 320 million Indians who are covered, 2.9 million are enrolled under the Private Voluntary Health Insurance (PVHI) plans, 63 million through Employee State Insurance Scheme (ESIS) and Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and the remainder 254 million people are covered through other government managed social health insurance schemes and communitybased schemes [1]. Health insurance forms a vital component of health financing in most part of the world, in India it has been found quiescent [2]. The total healthcare expenditure in India accounts for a 6% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of which 66.9% of its composition consists of Out-of-Pocket (OOP) payments according to the World Health Organization (WHO) report This paper uses quantitative methodological approach to assess and compare the insured and uninsured individuals on the basis of their socio-economic background, perceptions regarding the health insurance product, and individual personality traits

Methods

Results

Conclusion