tailieunhanh - Voluntary health insurance in Bwamanda,Democratic Republic of Congo.An exploration of its meanings to the community

Originals of important insurance papers should be kept in a safe place, preferably in a bank safe depos box. Be sure your papers include contact information for your agent or company , important receipts, your flood insurance policy and documentation on your personal property and contents of your home. Keep copies in your home or business in the safest, most accessible place possible that is not subject to flooding Having this detailed documentation will make filing your claim much easier . If floodwaters actually carry away your property , this list and the photos/receipts will be important to documenting your loss | Tropical Medicine and International Health VOLUME 3 NO 8 pp 640-653 AUGUST 1998 Voluntary health insurance in Bwamanda Democratic Republic of exploration of its meanings to the community B. Criel1 M. Van Dormael1 P. Lefevre1 U. Menase2 and W. Van Lerberghe1 1 Department of Public Health Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp Belgium 2 District Medical Officer Bwamanda Health District Democratic Republic of Congo Summary An insurance scheme covering hospital care in the rural district of Bwamanda in the North-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo which locally is called the mutuelle was conceived and developed in 1986 on the initiative of Belgian doctors working in the district under the arrangements for bilateral Belgian aid. After more than 10 years of operation the Bwamanda scheme has achieved a high rate of coverage contributed to a significant improvement in access to hospital-based in-patient care and constitutes a stable source of revenue for the operation of the hospital. We present an investigation conducted through focus groups in 1996 of the population s social perceptions of this risk-sharing scheme to identify ways to improve it. The findings pertain to the reasons for people to subscribe to the scheme to the perception of its redistribution effects to people s frustrations and questions and finally to the relationships between the insurance scheme and traditional mutual aid arrangements. The difference between a hospital insurance scheme a logic of contract and the traditional systems of mutual aid a logic of alliance is highlighted and the impact of the hospital insurance scheme on social inequalities is discussed. The implications of this study on the management of the Bwamanda health insurance scheme are reviewed and this study may be useful to health managers working in similar contexts. keywords voluntary health insurance community financing social perception focus groups Democratic Republic of Congo correspondence Bart Criel .