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 health-care service providers and by motivating providers to expand coverage. This paper describes SIBs and their potential application to health-care initiatives in the Region.