Himanshu is a villager from Lephripara, Sundergarh Dist. He was hired as a contract project staff in SEWAK NGO. He lives with his wife, their 2 children and his old mother. In Jan 2022 he was enrolled in the Hospital Cash Insurance when SEWAK sponsored him, but he was clueless of how it would help him in the long run. He was skeptical about the need for such a policy and had thought it was not a critical requirement.
Later, Himanshu was admitted to the Govt. Hospital for treatment due to sudden chest pain. He was treated for Tuberculosis and was admitted to the Government Hospital for 6 days. While the treatment in the Govt. Hospital was free, there were a lot of OPD expenses, medical care items expenses, and other miscellaneous expenses that he and his family had to bear.
His Hospital Cash Insurance provided a claim for Himanshu for ₹ 12,000/- during his hospital stay, post treatment medicines and even covered for Loss of Pay for the absence at work.
This small nudge from his employer SEWAK gave Himanshu the much needed financial support during this period of hospitalization and recovery. It was the case of Himanshu that gave rise to the idea of a Hospital Cash Insurance to all the farmers SEWAK was servicing, and later #nudge2include was born to cover any small/marginal farmers across Odisha with Hospital Cash Insurance.
Now, Himashu has himself insured all 3 eligible members of his family who are now covered under the Hospital Insurance Program. He says it is an enlightment how such a small investment in the right scheme could benefit him during the time of sudden medical distress.
nudge2include has taken cue out of this experience and identified the need to educate the rural farmers about financial safety, importance of insurance as a financial safety tool and digital literacy which would make rural India join mainstream India.
