Karuna Trust a Karnataka based NGO that has been working successfully on health and development issues for nearly two decades. For its target population the Karuna trust decided to implement a pilot health insurance scheme in a partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),

In designing a health insurance product that complements the public healthcare infrastructure the Karuna Trust, the non-governmental organization (NGO) were pioneers in collaborating with the state-owned National Insurance Company (NIC)

Acting as an agent for NIC the Karuna Trust promoted the insurance product that compensates the insured for the loss of income in case of hospitalization at a public health facility.
Furthermore, to supply medicines that are unavailable in public facilities a drug fund was set up and people belonging to the poverty line received treatment through public health facilities free-of-charge. Between the public infrastructure and the insurance scheme a tight network has evolved that has resulted in efficient services for the poor.