Assessing financial impact of a health intervention program and controlling spillover effects

Providing affordable healthcare service to people under poverty is not only important, but a must, in view of the vicious circle of poverty. For meeting the global targets, Government of India, in 2008, launched Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, a flagship healthcare microinsurance intervention, to provide subsidized healthcare facility for the poor. The program primarily aims at providing financial security to the people in times of a health shock. The present study is an attempt to assess the impact of the program, by considering health expenditure, fund mobilization and consumption smoothing as dimensions of financial protection. A quasi-experimental design has been followed where two groups of respondents were involved. The study has used propensity score matching technique for evaluating the program. Additionally, spillover effects of the program were studied by using two control groups. Data have been collected in district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh. The results reveal that health expenditure of the enrolled households has reduced in comparison with non-enrolled households. Fund mobilization and essential household consumption have also been found smooth in the case of program participant households.