A closer look at India's new health microinsurance scheme

As mentioned in last week's post, India set out four years ago to achieve universal health coverage for poor families using a massive system of state-subsidized private microinsurance.

In the video report below, The Economist says "the scheme has worked surprisingly well."

To avoid cash transfers, the government distributes benefits using debit cards encoded with the owner's fingerprint information. To avoid hospitals overcharging for procedures, the government fixes the procedures' prices. And to avoid hospitals overprescribing procedures, it sounds as if the government sets its prices so low that hospitals have an incentive to treat as quickly as possible.

It is, in other words, a perfectly modern hodgepodge. And it just might work. Check it out. (Video best viewed in Chrome.)