The ninth session of SIG was planned as an action-oriented culmination of the Financial Inclusion for Universal Health Coverage Summit organized on October 18, 2022 in Hyderabad along with all the other SIG meetings held over the last three years. The session witnessed participation of thirty-five representatives from leading healthtech and fintech start-ups, payment banks, non-profit organizations, insurance companies, government officials, healthcare experts, and pharmaceutical companies. The SIG was kickstarted with an insightful presentation by Ms. Jesse Song from SwissRe on the City Supplemental Insurance Plan in China. Following the same, the participants at the session were engaged in knowledge creation and sharing through interactive and outcome-oriented breakout sessions based on four different themes. The themes were picked by the program team who went on to develop descriptive personas and templates for each group to solve targeted health financing problems. Themes included:

• Women in the reproductive age group;
• Underbanked rural populations suffering from critical illnesses;
• NCD-prevalent among young populations in urban areas; and
• Migrant population with low access to healthcare.

City Supplemental Insurance Plan Presentation by SwissRe
SwissRe has undertaken in-depth study of the city supplemental insurance plan in China and has been closely engaged with the stakeholders to help make the program a success. The program’s features such as benefit integration with the social health insurance and efforts from both the government and private sector to create an effective public private partnership stood out for the diverse set of participants at the SIG. Ideas such as bite size inpatient coverage and various distribution methods from this program were showcased as part of the presentation. The interaction further highlighted the benefits of such a program for the private insurers and health companies while also providing coverage to individuals and families from the lower and lower middle segments of China. The session concluded with the audience engaging with the presenter on critical topics such as the sustainability of the program, government’s role and the up-selling, cross-selling capabilities of the program. The presentation sparked valuable discussion throughout the event where participants leveraged learnings from the City Supplemental Insurance plan.

Collaborative Brainstorming Activity – Breakout sessions
The diverse group of participants were segregated into the four themes breakout session basis their interest and experience towards the theme. Each of the groups were moderated by experts and thought leaders from the relevant areas and the groups came up with comprehensive solutions through dialogue and discussion. The solutions were constructed in line with ACCESS Health International’s Fintech for Health approach through use of jamboard and interactive templates. The solutions included identification of the products or services required to solve the health financing problem of the persona, prioritization and selection of channels for distribution of the product or service, and development of the approach towards stakeholders that need to be engaged to implement these solutions. The solutions developed included innovatively bundled health wallets and insurance programs with approaches to help make alternative credit and microfinance available for the population groups. The solutions also focused on leveraging technology to help ensure that the products are affordable and accessible for all. We, at ACCESS Health, strongly believe that these interactions and solutions will pave the way for actionable initiatives and strategies that impact millions of people towards better health.

By: Abhishek Sudke and Sireesha Perabathina
For more information contact: [email protected]