author(s)
Athira T

abstract

Background: Health insurance literacy is defined as the ability to understand, evaluate and utilize health insurance information. It is a critical component of achieving sustainable development goal (SDG) 3.8, which focuses on universal health coverage and financial protection. In India, there are numerous Government sponsored and private health insurance schemes. The low health insurance literacy continues to impede optimal healthcare utilization. Kerala is one of a leading state in insurance claims and program outreach struggles with underutilization of benefits due to gaps in knowledge and decision-making capacity. This highlights the need to assess and enhance health insurance literacy, particularly in rural areas.

Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the level of health insurance literacy among adults and find the association between health insurance literacy and selected socio-personal variables.

Methods: A quantitative, cross sectional analytical study was conducted in wards 5 and 6 of Kaiparambu Grama Panchayat, Thrissur district. A total of 200 adults aged 20–60 years were selected using stratified random sampling based on APL and BPL classification. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews using two tools: a socio-personal data sheet and a health insurance literacy measurement tool. This tool assessed three domains include, knowledge of health insurance schemes, confidence in decision-making regarding health insurance and ability to seek health insurance benefits. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.

Results: The study revealed that 72% of participants had average health insurance literacy, 25% had fair literacy, and only 3% had good literacy. In terms of components, 54% had average knowledge of insurance schemes, 74.5% had average confidence in decision-making regarding health insurance and 42% had fair ability to seek health insurance benefits. Significant associations were found between health insurance literacy and family income. No significant associations were observed with age, gender, marital status, or educational status etc.

Conclusion: Most of adults have only average health insurance literacy, with particular difficulty in utilizing benefits. There is a need for community-based awareness programs, simplified insurance communication, and targeted support mechanisms. Improving health insurance literacy will enhance service utilization, reduce financial burden and contribute to achieving universal health coverage in rural India.