CIAO DATE: 10/2008
May 2008
Joint agency paper - Oxfam, Action for Global Health, Médecins du Monde, Save the Children, Plan, Global Health Advocates, Act Up Paris
Some donors and governments propose that health insurance mechanisms can close health financing gaps and benefit poor people. Although beneficial for the people able to join, this method of financing health care has so far been unable to sufficiently fill financing gaps in health systems and improve access to quality health care for the poor. Donors and governments need to consider the evidence and scale up public resources for the health sector. Without adequate public funding and government stewardship, health insurance mechanisms pose a threat rather than an opportunity to the objectives of equity and universal access to health care.
Resource link: Health insurance in low-income countries: Where is the evidence that it works? [PDF] - 313K