Inclusive Health Insurance: Ensuring Access to Affordable Healthcare for Low-Income Populations

Access to affordable healthcare remains a critical challenge for low-income and informal sector workers worldwide. With rising healthcare costs and the lack of financial safety nets, millions of people are forced into poverty each year due to medical expenses.

Access to affordable healthcare remains a critical challenge for low-income and informal sector workers worldwide. With rising healthcare costs and the lack of financial safety nets, millions of people are forced into poverty each year due to medical expenses. Inclusive health insurance programs, designed to provide affordable healthcare coverage to underserved populations, have emerged as essential tools in addressing this crisis. These programs aim to ensure that low-income families and informal sector workers, who often lack employer-provided health insurance, have access to necessary medical services without incurring financial ruin.

This blog explores various inclusive health insurance schemes that have emerged globally, with a special focus on the impact of government initiatives like India's Ayushman Bharat program. By analyzing the successes and challenges of these schemes, we can better understand how inclusive health insurance can be scaled to provide affordable healthcare for all.

The Healthcare Crisis for Low-Income Populations

Globally, low-income populations face significant barriers to accessing quality healthcare. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty each year due to out-of-pocket health expenses. This situation is particularly dire in developing countries, where informal sector workers-who represent a substantial portion of the labor force-often lack access to formal healthcare services.

Informal workers are typically not covered by traditional health insurance programs because they do not have stable employment contracts or employer-sponsored insurance. This leaves them vulnerable to catastrophic healthcare expenses, leading to a cycle of poverty. The need for inclusive health insurance programs, which are specifically designed to cover these populations, is therefore urgent.