Project 2a
West African Migrants' Investments in Health Insurance

Summary
Most accounts of the effects of migration on health emphasise the negative effects that the loss of skilled medical personnel has on the finance and functioning of health services in sending countries. However, there is some evidence that migrants may also contribute to improved health outcomes through investment in private and public health schemes that benefit their home communities. This project is an exploratory study of a new form of insurance scheme that has been set up in France, in which migrants from Cote d’Ivoire pay contributions for health insurance for their relatives back home. The Metropolitan Insurance Company Ghana Ltd has launched a similar scheme for Ghanaians in the UK.

The project will examine these two schemes and look at whether they affect who gets health care, and the quality of health care offered to different members of the community. The project will also look at the ways in which international migrants invest in public facilities such as health centres in their home communities in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. It will consider whether there is an information gap between the expressed needs of these communities and the needs as perceived by the migrants abroad, as well as whether there may be other motives for these investments.

Key Research Questions

	How and when do migrants invest in private and public health schemes in their home communities?
	How do the new private insurance schemes and migrant-financed public facilities affect access to and quality of health care for different members of the community?
	Why do migrants invest in public facilities? Is it to meet the expressed needs of communities in the place of origin, or for some other reason?