Microinsurance
Less than 2 percent of Indonesians are insured. 120 million, nearly half of the population, survive on less than $2 per day.
A short, promotional video shows how some poor Indonesians are warming up to the idea of insurance priced at $0.40.
Comments (2)
Delicious
E-mail
Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
1. Any chance of providing captions on this video so that it can be accessible to deaf viewers?
2. Do you know if steps being taken to ensure that people with disabilities have the same access as everyone else to purchasing medical insurance? I'm asking because I know that disabled people have historically encountered discrimination in past medical insurance schemes. This happens both deliberately, in the form of regulations that specifically and explicitly exclude them from coverage, and also unintentionally, for example by providing information about insurance coverage in a format that is not accessible to people with disabilities. (Print material is not accessible to blind people unless Braille or audio alternatives are available; promotional radio campaigns are not accessible to deaf people).
Inclusion of people with disabilities is something that does not simply happen. Policies need to be reviewed to ensure that they are not actively excluded. But further than this, regulations, procedures, and outreach efforts also need to be reviewed by people with disabilities themselves and other accessibility experts to ensure that barriers have not inadvertently been created.
People with disabilities already face enormous barriers in gaining access to medical services. Hospitals commonly refuse to provide sign language interpreters for deaf patients--even assuming interpreters exist in the country; wheelchair riders may lack access to public transportation that could take them to the clinic--assuming they even have wheelchairs at all; people with intellectual disabilities have difficulty obtaining information about their health that is provided to them in a simple, straightforward format that they can understand. I hope that this plan to bring medical insurance to a wider audidence has taken care to avoid inadvertently leaving disabled people behind.
Posted by: Andrea Shettle, MSW | Jan 7, 2008 11:23:10 AM
The video certainly highlighted the importance of microinsurance in the developing world. There definitely has not been enough attention focused on microinsurance even though it is equally important as microlending when it comes to improving the lives of the poor entrepreneurs in the developing world. Perhaps it is harder to attract the attention of the average microfinancer as it is not as glamorous and tangible as microloans?
Is the future of the micro-insurance therefore in he hands of the global insurance companies such as Allianz? My hope and expectation is that they will focus on offering a good product at a fair price and make a respectable profit in the meantime. This is the only way that microinsurance will be sustainable.
Posted by: Paul Sager | Feb 1, 2008 10:13:19 PM