Rwanda: healthcare on the cheap

NYT story on near-universal healthcare in poor Rwanda.  $2 a year buys it.

Nothing fancy, and yet impact:

Since the insurance, known as health mutuals, rolled out, average life expectancy has risen to 52 from 48, despite a continuing AIDS epidemic, according to Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, permanent secretary of Rwanda’s Ministry of Health. Deaths in childbirth and from malaria are down sharply, she added.

Shows the utility, no matter the level of development.

Doesn't work without some outside money help, and it's hard to get locals to pay in advance, but the larger point is, if it costs something, even if it's not much, people take it a lot more seriously--and use it.