The Outpatient Healthcare (OP) pilot aimed to lower the out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for India’s rural poor by creating affordable and reliable options for outpatient healthcare. It was launched on the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) platform to strengthen the delivery of outpatient healthcare at public healthcare facilities and also involve private players to further improve healthcare accessibility for below poverty line (BPL) households in Puri (Odisha) and Mehsana (Gujarat).

ICICI Foundation partnered with Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), the Micro- insurance Innovation Facility of International Labour Organisation (ILO) and ICICI Lombard General Insurance to design and support the delivery of the first outpatient insurance product for India’s poor. It was offered in conjunction with the Government’s RSBY at empanelled government and private outpatient clinics and hospitals. The pilot ended in Mehsana and Puri in May 2014 and September 2014 respectively.

The Outpatient Healthcare pilot has successfully demonstrated how integration of outpatient healthcare with the RSBY platform can improve access to healthcare for BPL households and reduce their out- of-pocket expenses on healthcare. Based on the pilot, the Central government has extended outpatient healthcare in all RSBY empanelled hospitals as a standard product across the nation, potentially benefitting 37 million poor families.