Quality Healthcare and Health Insurance Retention: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in the Kolkata Slums

Healthcare in developing countries is often unreliable and of poor quality, thus reducing individuals incentives to use quality health services. This paper examines an innovative approach to access to and demand for quality health care from the poor. Using data from a field experiment in India, the impact of high-quality care experiences in the form of a free medical consultation with a qualified nongovernmental organization doctor is randomly offered by a health insurance provider to a subset of its enrollees. [IFPRI Discussion Paper 01352].