Application of data analytics for the comparative analysis of government health insurance schemes

Abstract

Our project sought to analyse the various government-run health insurance schemes initiated over the years by the Government of India, gain insights into the strategies that have a maximum impact and utility to the individuals, and recommend steps to cause increase in the uptake of insurance plans by the population as compared to out of pocket payments for healthcare. The project also sought to study the extent by which people were affected by catastrophic conditions such as the sale or pledge of property for payment of medical bills, death due to lack of money for medical care and so on, and recommend ways to reduce catastrophic medical expenses. The project analysed the data from the Surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) on Health, across the entire geography of India. 4 rounds of these surveys, namely, Survey on Utilisation of Medical Services and the survey on utilisation of Healthcare 60th Round (2004-05), Social Consumption of Health Care in India, 71st Round (2014-15) and the Social Consumption of Health Care in India, 75th Round (2017-18). The project has analysed the impact of the factors which affect the payment of insurance premium such as age, sex, religion, caste, occupation, income etc., and identify the factors that are the most significantly affecting it. Also, the study on the kind of insurance scheme that households subscribe to, such as government and private, and the impact of various schemes such as RSBY (Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana), Janani Suraksha Yojana etc. It has also studied the factors that affect the take up of health insurance schemes and the amount of reimbursement awarded for various medical expenses, in comparison with out-of-pocket expenses, such as type of disease and treatment offered, pre-surgical and post-surgical care etc. Lastly, it also studied the factors that affected the medical treatment for the diseased to identify the extent when lack of funds for out-of-pocket expenses, and the lack of an insurance policy affects households. The project has used a combination of qualitative and quantitative research to achieve its objectives. It used literature review for qualitative research through the analysis of reports, journals and research papers on the Indian health sector and the health insurance in India. This was followed by quantitative research. This involved the interpretation of the data provided by the 3 NSSO surveys, and its analysis through trend analysis, factor analysis, regression and the creation, training and execution of neural networks. The project suggested recommendations to policymakers on the factors to be considered while creating insurance policies by analysing the impact of the present schemes in the lives of people, the coverage, the access and the benefits received across different strata. The strata included gender, age, education level, caste, religion, occupation and area of residence (rural/urban). It also suggested state-level interventions, and the need and areas of improvement in the NSSO surveys to ensure quality data and analysis. The project has attempted to underline the steps to ensure equitable access, coverage and benefit to the population of India, in terms of health care and insurance.