Health Insurance Scenario Among Street Vendors Of Chandigarh

Abstract

Introduction- Health insurance can become one of the important pillars in strengthening health care delivery system of India as health insurance provides umbrella of protection from catastrophic health care expenses to people belonging to vulnerable sections of society for example, street vendors. Thus, it becomes imperative to estimate coverage and awareness of health insurance among street vendors. Objectives- Catalogue the various schemes available for street vendors of Chandigarh pertaining to health insurance, ascertain the extent and pattern of coverage of street vendors of Chandigarh by various health insurance schemes with respect to street vendors perspective and to document the various health insurance schemes related awareness level and experiences of the concerned street vendors of Chandigarh. Methodology- This cross sectional study conducted on two fifty street vendors, randomly selected from the list of street vendors registered under Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh. MS Excel Workbook 2019 was used for statistical analysis. Results- Most of the street vendors were married, males educated up to 12^th class, earning INR 5000-10000 as monthly income, less than INR 3000 as per capita income, having four to six family members and living in urban area. Most of the street vendors fell ill in last six months needed medical treatment. About two-third of 250 street vendors heard and knew about health insurance. Twenty-seven street vendors were covered under health insurance scheme. Conclusion- The study witnessed low coverage of street vendors under any health insurance scheme. Two-third of street vendors heard and knew about health insurance. Recommendation- The study recommends maximizing and optimizing the strategies to increase awareness and coverage of health insurance among street vendors.