The application of social impact bonds to universal health-care initiatives in South-East Asia.

Social impact bonds (SIBs) have the potential to improve the efficiency of government health-care spending in South-East Asia. In a SIB, governments sign a pay-for-performance contract with one or several providers of health-care services, and the providers borrow up-front capital from investors. Governments outside South-East Asia have started to experiment with SIBs in criminal justice, homelessness and health care. Governments of South-East Asia can advance the goal of universal health care by using SIBs to improve the efficiency of healthcare service providers and by motivating providers to expand coverage. This paper describes SIBs and their potential application to health-care initiatives in the Region.