It has been working with the National Insurance Company to put in place a community healthcare insurance scheme that enables the poor to have effective access to the government healthcare system in rural areas. Though public healthcare is free, it has remained out of reach of a number of the poor. Falling ill, for the class that lives on a daily basis, hand-to-mouth, could mean loss of livelihood. For the daily-wagers a day out of work means a day without bread. So they delay seeking healthcare, entailing hospitalization, till they can carry on no longer . Thus forced into a hospital, they get into debt to sustain themselves.

The insurance scheme devised by Karuna Trust offers a subsistence allowance of Rs.50 a day for a max. of  25 days  of hospitalization in a year. Besides, a beneficiary is entitled to reimbursement of up to Rs.50 a day on medicines not dispensed at the government hospital. Bharathi Ghanashyam has written (see Deccan Herald, Spectrum, Feb. 28) about the functioning of this innovative insurance scheme at T Narasipura taliuk of Mysore district.

Additional details from www.karunatrust.org; ktrust@vsnl.net

National Insurance Company nicmysdo@sancharnet.in;

Bharathi Ghanashyam bharathiksg@yahoo.com