The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research in collaboration with the WHO Health Financing Unit is organizing a Webinar on 23 March, 1 PM CET, to share outcomes of a programme of research to understand how initiatives to empower citizens to realize their health insurance entitlements have (or not) contributed to enabling citizens to exercise their health insurance entitlements.
Several LMICs have introduced publicly funded health insurance programs as central to their strategy to move closer to UHC. However, despite sometimes impressive increases in coverage, people continue to face major barriers to accessing -quality care due to a lack of information about benefits or challenges of navigating access to care. Likewise, grievance redressal arrangements may function poorly and participation of citizens in the design and oversight of insurance programmes is inadequate resulting in these programmes being often not designed in accordance with people’s needs.
In response to this, governments as well as civil society organizations (CSOs) have established a range of initiatives to empower citizens to realize their health insurance entitlements. These include initiatives around information provision, health provider navigation, help hotlines and grievance redressal mechanisms, and involving citizens in insurance oversight.
To better understand how these initiatives might be strengthened, the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research in collaboration with the WHO Health Financing Unit supported a programme of research to understand how a range of such initiatives have (or not) contributed to enabling citizens to exercise their health insurance entitlements.
This webinar will a) provide an overview of the research programme and illustrate key lessons gleaned across the countries: b) go in-depth into understanding how initiatives in Colombia, India and Indonesia have contributed to citizen empowerment and health insurance responsiveness and what remains to be done; and c) engage policymakers, health financing experts and CSO representatives to reflect on key emergent themes.
This webinar will be the 16th of the HGF series.
Participants
Dr Kumanan Rasanathan is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research.
Dr Zubin Shroff is a health systems specialist at the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research.
Dinna Prapto Raharja leads Synergy Policies, a think tank and consulting firm on public policy.
Mery Bolívar is a medical doctor with research and teaching experience. Her areas of expertise include health and right to health policies, health systems, universal health coverage, and health financing.
Sapna Desai is based at the Population Council, New Delhi, where her work focuses on women’s health and well-being, particularly community-based interventions, health systems, and sexual and reproductive health.
Manuela De Allegri is Leader of the Research Unit in Health Economics and Health Financing at the Institute of Global Health of the University of Heidelberg.
Inke Mathauer is a senior health financing specialist at the Department of Health Systems Governance and Financing at the WHO in Geneva.
Ruchi Agarwal is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Insurance VimoSEWA Cooperative Ltd. where she is the head of the co-operative and on the board.
Walaiporn Patcharanarumol is the Director of Global Health Division of the Ministry of Public Health Thailand.
