‘Niramoy’ Micro Health Insurance in Bangladesh : Innovations in Design, Delivery and Distribution Channels

This paper illustrates the key features of an innovative micro health insurance pilot intervention, where the product has been designed keeping in view the targets of adequate risk protection, inclusivity of access, affordability, and program sustainability; which are mostly absent in the existing health insurance programs in Bangladesh. By enlisting a commercial insurance company as a risk carrier, the scheme signals a new initiative in the health insurance in Bangladesh, along the partner-agent structure. Research design embracing the methods of cluster randomized trial allows for identification of direct and indirect effects of MHI on actual OOP incurred by the insured; vis-à-vis the non-insured households who are otherwise similar in economic, educational, and social dimensions. Such an analysis holds the promise of determining whether MHI interventions may eventually lead to large-scale implementation, so that quality health care reach the poor en masse, thereby contributing to the cause of universal health coverage