The first time Surajit Ghosh’s mother fell unconscious, it was at a public function near Madhupur, Jharkhand. She was diagnosed with blocks in her heart, says Ghosh, narrating the ordeal that followed. With no high-end medical facilities nearby, he hired a cardio-ambulance for his mother and they travelled 200 km to reach Mission Hospital in Durgapur, West Bengal.

Ghosh’s mother required a pace-maker and the entire treatment was to cost ₹1,25,000. “I had already paid ₹40,000 and had exhausted all the money I had for treatment,” he recounts.

Seeing his predicament, a doctor put him in touch with social healthcare venture Arogya Finance (AF). “I did not know the organization, they did not know me, or my mother,” says Ghosh. But within hours after meeting the family, AF agreed to pick up the medical bill, says Ghosh, deeply grateful for the support he received.

A junior mine manager with MUVA Industries (that makes concrete sleepers for the Railways), Ghosh is presently paying back the monthly instalment of ₹1,280, running upto March 2016. “The biggest thing in life is to get support when you really need it,” says Ghosh, recalling the time when all channels for money ran dry. Ghosh’s mother was the first person supported by AF more than two years ago. It has since supported about 800 families, says Jose Peter, its co-founder and chief executive.

Every year, about 40 million people fall below the poverty line because of medical exigencies, says Peter, formerly CFO (chief financial officer) with Tata Motor Finance. With an understanding of finance, risk, regulations and collections, Peter along with co-founder Dheeraj Batra started AF. Medical loans are given to families with a total income of ₹7,500-plus per month. And the borrower’s integrity and intention to repay is assessed using a psychometric test. Once funded, the treatment cost is recovered in instalments up to 36 months. “We try to make it possible,” says Peter, and there are no strong-arm tactics to recover the money. The idea is to include those in the ₹7,500 to ₹17,000 per month bracket and that’s about 550 million people who are not on anyone’s radar, especially for medical expenses, he says.

The interest charged is one per cent per month in a partner hospital and 1.25 in others. “The interest is convenient to pay,” says Ramesh Waghmare, who runs a footwear shop in suburban Mumbai. He had taken a loan when meningitis and paralysis affected his 14-year-old daughter, following which she needed surgery for her leg affected by the illness.

Waghmare received ₹45,000, or 75 per cent of his bill amount. His EMI payment of ₹2424 will be completed in another nine months, he says, relieved.

People below the poverty line are supported by Govt, NGOs etc. But the middle class has no support particularly with medical expenses and are traditionally viewed as being “unbankable.” “We are trying to create a lifeline for this half of India,” explains Peter.

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