A case study of the Yeshasvini health insurance scheme for the rural poor in India

This is a case study of the Yeshasvini Health Insurance Scheme for rural farmers and peasants in Karnataka, which has a potential to be a model for developing countries in providing a modicum of health security for their citizens. We describe the origins and functioning of the scheme, analyze its performance to-date, and find support for its transferability to several other states in India. We also identify the institutional conditions that influence success of a scheme of this kind, and discuss some of the critical problems that occurred during the scheme's first year of operations.