Re: microinsurance

[Community Development Banking List]

Original message from: paul5glover@yahoo.com

There are dozens of nonprofit microinsurers in the Third World. *They are referred to as MHOs-- Mutual Health Organizations. *They self-insure, relying often on barter of crops for medical services.

In the United States started the Ithaca Health Alliance http://ithacahealth.org whose members paid $100/YEAR to be covered for 12 categories of everyday emergency, anywhere in the world, to specified maximum amounts. *This menu of benefits was built gradually, matching the benefit menu to enrollment and payments. *It was self-financed and managed according to principles at http://luvpower.org/legislation.html *They now own their own free clinic, providing both holistic and standard care.
I have since written the book "Health Democracy" http://healthdemocracy.org/book.html and started the League of Uninsured Voters (LUV) http://luvpower.org*
Medical insurance companies are rotten businesses, and enabling them to suck the blood of the poor makes them more so. *My book "A Crime Not a Crisis" details collusion between insurers, legislators and regulators. http://luvpower.org/painsure.html
I recommend establishing self-financing co-ops instead.

Paul Glover

(215) 805-8330

http://www.paulglover.orgNew Briefing Note from the ILO's Microinsurance Innovation
Facility: A business case for microinsurance.

Is there a business case for microinsurance? Under what circumstances can
insurance companies generate profits from microinsurance? These are important
questions because insurers are increasingly interested to expand into the
low-income market. To encourage this expansion, microinsurance initiatives need
to demonstrate that they are commercially viable and sustainable over time.
This note assesses the business case for microinsurance through case studies of
five microinsurance initiatives.