Health insurance: Uptake, perception and its determinants among health care seekers at a tertiary care hospital in Lucknow, India

Abstract

Health Insurance has come to the forefront of Public Health Policy with the launch of Ayushman Bharat. Government spending on health is dismal compared to other countries, even within the same income bracket, and health insurance is being proposed as the way out. Although health insurance is not a new concept, people are still unfamiliar with it. Hence, the present study was conducted to assess the utilization, awareness and perception regarding health insurance policies in patients attending OPD at a Tertiary Care Hospital.It was a cross-sectional study carried out among the patients attending the outpatient department of a Tertiary Care Hospital, Lucknow from October 2020 to January 2021. Study participants were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 26. Though the majority (84.3%) of the participants had heard about the existence of health insurance policies, only one-third (33.6%) of the participants were covered under health insurance policy. Inadequate knowledge regarding benefits, low income, preference for other investments, and no felt need were some of the barriers to subscription.Inadequate knowledge regarding health insurance among health care seekers is a major roadblock in the government's ambitious project of Ayushman Bharat and other health insurance schemes. Emphasis should be given to educating the people regarding their rights and the benefits of health insurance.