What is a health card worth? A randomised controlled trial of an outpatient health insurance product in rural India

Abstract

BackgroundLow-income rural Indians have poor access to nearby health-care services, preventive products, and insurance. These factors motivated this intervention wherein a composite health-care package was delivered by a telemedicine-enabled community health worker (CHW)—an important actor in the Indian health system given the shortage of doctors. Few studies that evaluate composite programmes of this type exist. Much of the research to date has been evaluations of health insurance, largely using quasi-experimental approaches on inpatient (or composite inpatient and outpatient cover) products with mixed findings. The CARE Foundation created a programme that offered an opportunity to assess, ..