Health Insurance for Migrants

Stanford Social Innovation Review | Winter 2018

M-FUND health worker talking with migrants in Thailand. The M-FUND offers affordable health insurance to the vulnerable Burmese migrant population on Thailand’s western border. Photo credit: M-FUND

More than three million migrants live in Thailand, having crossed the border in search of higher wages and better job opportunities. But most aren’t able to pay for health care, despite being at high risk for dengue fever, tuberculosis, and several other infectious and respiratory diseases. “We knew that the Thai government health insurance program set up for migrants 20 years ago wasn’t working,” says Nicolas Durier, a physician who has worked in public health in Thailand and around Asia.

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