Nearly 1.3 billion people around the world lack access to affordable healthcare, including people from India. The affordability problem has been addressed to a certain extent by the introduction of affordable insurance schemes. These schemes refute the government's assumption that impoverished families of rural India are not capable of availing healthcare services through payment of health insurance premiums. Affordable health insurance schemes have made healthcare services affordable and accessible. This paper studies the present condition of the affordable insurance schemes in India.

There is said to be a healthcare revolution that is influencing nearly one third of the human population. This revolution means less government support and more out-of-pocket medical expenses for the poor, especially the rural poor in India (Powell, 2006). In this context, India is said to be the world leader in designing, deployment and development of low-cost health insurance schemes through microhealth insurance units, for the urban and rural poor. Nearly 40 affordable health Insurance schemes—which cover several millions of poor—are operating in India. The number is rising and is expected to rise further. The success of the micro insurance programs is attributed to the non-profit institutions operating for the poor. Some of the existing micro health insurance schemes are self-financed which exclude the involvement of direct insurance companies, thereby substantial operational costs and profit margin are avoided. The micro insurance program was successful wherever it was introduced and implemented. The affordability of the insurance package is the main reason for its success among the rural population.

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