India is the first country to make it mandatory for private insurance companies to provide services to the poor by covering them under various micro-insurance schemes offered at low, flexible premiums. Besides, there are substantial experiences at the non-governmental level, such as the SEWA in Gujarat and Yeshasvini Rural Micro-Health Insurance Scheme in Karnataka, where local resources have been successfully pooled together to set up corpus funding to provide healthcare services for the poor by the poor. There have also been instances of collaborations between nonprofit organizations and private insurance companies to render professional insurance services to the poor at affordable rates.
However, it is yet to be seen how successful the micro-insurance model can be. With diversification at every corner of the country, the need is to implement tailor-made products for the poor inhabiting varied environments. Besides, empowerment should be a necessary protocol when working with the poor; they should be completely equipped with the knowledge about insurance products and services and should be able to make decisions about them. An ideal micro-insurance model is one where the poor have the power and participation to locally manage the pooled resources together.
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