We sat with Yolanda and Antonio on plastic chairs underneath a thatched roof hanging over the entrance of their home. They’d lived on the identical 5.5 acre land in Peru for many years and raised two boys by promoting milk from their three cows, crops like tomatoes, paprika and corn, and groceries on the family-run hut by the highway. Farm life had aged Yolanda (age 54) however I seen a slight smile upon her weathered face.
She shifted her weight from one facet to the opposite as she instructed us about her current journey to the hospital for hip surgical procedure. The couple lives in La Joya, a two-hour drive exterior of Arequipa. The physician within the native public well being outpost had her schedule an appointment with a surgeon within the metropolis who would settle for her medical health insurance, bought via a government-sponsored program particularly for farmers. Even with the main prices coated by insurance coverage, the household dug into their pockets a number of occasions all through the three-day keep within the metropolis and hospital. Discovering the cash was particularly troublesome as a result of leaving the farm unattended meant they didn’t have any revenue.
How a lot did this surgical procedure value Yolanda and her household?
- A bus to and from Arequipa: 22 soles.
- Taxis inside Arequipa: 10 soles.
- Meals for Antonio and different guests: 15 soles.
- Lack of revenue per day: 40 soles.
All in all, it value Antonio and Yolanda 161 soles, or roughly 4 day’s revenue (virtually US$60).
Regardless of the associated fee, Yolanda and Antonio truly felt fortunate that their bills weren’t so excessive. In spite of everything, they might have needed to pay the hospital and physician payment, value of surgical procedure, and medicines, as hundreds of thousands of uninsured Peruvians do. Yolanda and Antonio are amongst the few purchasers of Caja Arequipa which can be coated by one of many two nationwide medical health insurance plans, ESSALUD or SIS. ESSALUD serves authorities or payroll staff and the few farmers who pay out-of-pocket for the coverage. SIS is designed for very poor Peruvians who’ve little- to no- revenue.
At Caja Arequipa, an estimated 68% of credit score purchasers are utterly uninsured. They’re excluded from SIS for his or her income-generating actions and possession of credit score. Nonetheless, they don’t seem to be employed within the formal or public sector and so can not entry ESSALUD until, like Yolanda and Antonio, they qualify and decide to pay for the ESSALUD plan for farmers. When confronted with hospitalization instances like Yolanda’s—or worse—these farmers and microentrepreneurs should dig into no matter financial savings they’ve, borrow from mates or family, and promote a enterprise asset or private merchandise. They could even have to take out an extra mortgage to cowl medical payments and different prices.
So what can a microfinance establishment like Caja Arequipa do to assist? Caja Arequipa, with assist from Girls’s World Banking, is making ready to launch a sort of medical health insurance – a money payout for hospitalization. Market analysis revealed that purchasers need this product and the quantity proposed will present a real worth to purchasers. At 6.18 soles (US$2.16) per 30 days, the consumer will obtain 150 soles (US$52.42) per night time spent within the hospital. Not like many accessible insurance policies, there would even be no exclusions for preexisting or continual situations or maternity. For Yolanda and Antonio, this 300 soles cost (for 2 nights) would have coated their journey and every day bills and would have supplied an extra cushion to assist with their lack of revenue. The affect is much more profound for Caja Arequipa purchasers who’re uninsured doubtlessly avoiding a decapitalized enterprise or crippling debt.
Caregiver, Girls’s World Banking’s hospital-cash product, has had nice success in Jordan with community member, Microfund for Girls (MFW). Now with 190,000 purchasers and relations insured, MFW and the companion insurance coverage firm have paid greater than 8,500 claims, about half of which had been made for pregnancy-related hospitalization. The establishment has seen a rise of their consumer retention and curiosity from new purchasers who come to MFW after listening to good tales from present policyholders. We anticipate related success with Caja Arequipa in Peru with the product termed Familia Segura (or Secure Household). Starting March 1, 2014, Caja Arequipa will pilot the product by providing particular person insurance policies to present credit score purchasers and later lengthen protection to purchasers’ spouses and youngsters at similarly-affordable charges.
Yolanda and Antonio in Peru are similar to the {couples} we met doing buyer analysis for the product in Mexico and, we anticipate, to satisfy in Uganda and Morocco. Getting ready for the surprising medical emergency is troublesome however hospitalization doesn’t must undermine a household’s monetary safety. By way of Familia Segura, they are going to have a security internet as a substitute.
Tales and experiences from Girls’s World Banking’s well being microinsurance product growth in Mexico, Uganda, Morocco and Egypt coming quickly. The challenge in Peru is funded by Credit score Suisse.
