Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung Center for Development Research

For most people living in developing countries “health insurance” is unknown. It is generally assumed that, with the exception of the upper classes, people cannot afford such type of social protection. Poor people need protection against the financial consequences of illness. For most people living in developing countries illness still represents a permanent threat to their income earning capacity. Besides the direct costs for treatment and drugs, indirect costs resulting from the lost labor of the ill have to be shouldered by the household. Against this background ZEF is currently analyzing, in close collaboration with national research institutes, the prospects and limitations of innovative health insurance Health Insurance in Developing Countries?