FAQs
1. What is the Micro Insurance Academy?
2. What does the Micro Insurance Academy do?
3. What is micro health insurance and how does it work?
4. Does the Micro Insurance Academy provide health insurance directly to poor communities?
5. How is the Micro Insurance Academy’s approach to micro insurance different?
6. Why are community-based micro insurance schemes the answer?
7. How are MIA’s activities aligned with the Millennium Development Goals?
8. Are the poor willing to pay for health insurance?
9. How are the specific benefits determined under a microinsurance scheme?
10. How can I support the MIA?
2. What does the Micro Insurance Academy do?
3. What is micro health insurance and how does it work?
4. Does the Micro Insurance Academy provide health insurance directly to poor communities?
5. How is the Micro Insurance Academy’s approach to micro insurance different?
6. Why are community-based micro insurance schemes the answer?
7. How are MIA’s activities aligned with the Millennium Development Goals?
8. Are the poor willing to pay for health insurance?
9. How are the specific benefits determined under a microinsurance scheme?
10. How can I support the MIA?
Q. What is the Micro Insurance Academy?
A. The Micro Insurance Academy is a Delhi-based charitable trust that empowers poor communities through micro health insurance. The MIA is the first and only institution dedicated to training community-based micro health insurance schemes in insurance domain knowledge and management.
Q. What does the Micro Insurance Academy do?
A. Through training, research, and technical support, we enable poor communities to establish self-managed micro insurance schemes. A key component of our interventions involves helping poor communities to create and design microinsurance products that meet local needs, priorities, and levels of willingness to pay. This is accomplished through a comprehensive series of studies and workshops to train, coach, and assist communities in developing relevant and cost-effective micro insurance systems and processes.
For a more detailed description visit Our Work.
For a more detailed description visit Our Work.
Q. What is micro health insurance and how does it work?
A. Micro health insurance helps reduce the out-of-pocket health expenses faced by the poor.
Q. Does the Micro Insurance Academy provide micro health insurance directly to poor communities?
A. No, however the MIA does work with partner organizations such as micro finance institutions and healthcare providers to establish micro insurance schemes.
Q. How is the Micro Insurance Academy’s approach to micro insurance different?
A. Unlike other approaches, we believe the poor themselves should perform the majority of governance roles in micro health insurance schemes. This “bottom-up” approach minimizes the need for outside assistance while strengthening democratic institutions within the community. The MIA focuses on explaining the value proposition of insurance. Unlike most of microinsurance products today, it is neither mandatory, nor linked to a savings product. Our approach gives clients the ability to cover items that are typically excluded from microinsurance products (such as maternity, drugs etc.). We utilize local management and ownership, along with “en-bloc” group affiliation (all household members) to combat the challenges posed by moral hazard and adverse selection. This combination of both elements is innovative, and to the best of our knowledge never before implemented elsewhere.
Q. Why are community-based micro insurance schemes the answer?
A. Micro insurance schemes work because they provide health insurance to entire households and communities en bloc rather than just individuals. This spreads risk more evenly ensuring a more sustainable microinsurance unit. Additionally, local community members will be empowered to take on roles and responsibilities they may not have thought possible, and gain skills in vast new areas.
Q. How do the MIA’s activities contribute to the Millennium Development Goals?
A. Of the 8 Millennium Development Goals, numbers 4,5, & 6 explicitly address 3 aspects of health: child mortality, maternal wellbeing, and chronic illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. The MIA works with the development community to achieve these goals by advocating the use of micro health insurance. Read the MDGs in full.
Q. Are the poor willing to pay for health insurance?
A. Yes. A 2005 survey found that poor communities in India are willing to spend around 1.5% of their annual income for a benefits package that provides broad coverage at low levels.
Q. Isn’t there a moral hazard if a household knowingly withholds information about their health status? Might this affect the long-term benefits of other community members?
A. The benefit of a community-based micro insurance scheme is that unlike other forms of insurance, complete disclosure of health status is unnecessary as long as all members of all households in a community agree to become affiliated with a scheme. Learn more about moral hazard as it applies to microinsurance.
Q. How are the specific benefits determined under a microinsurance scheme?
A. Using a game-link tool called CHAT, community members come together to decide which set of benefits are most appropriate for the community as a whole based on their willingness to pay. Moreover, micro insurance shemes will be ensure faster claims processing, reduced instances of fraud, mobilize local resources, and improve democratic governance at the local level.
Q. How can I support the MIA?
A. Click here for ways you can support our fast-growing organization.
