Evaluating Impact with All Rigor Possible. Applicability of Mathematical Methods in Measuring Social Impact (Exemplified by the Health Insurance Subsidy Program)

Increasing incomes, improving the education system, reducing morbidity are important areas of impact investment. Whether these changes will actually be achieved is the key question for an investor deciding on a social technology or project to invest in. However, the leaders of social projects and programs often focus on measuring the immediate outputs rather than on assessing whether projects and programs have had the expected impact. In this article, we would like to highlight the experience of evaluating the impact of the Health Insurance Subsidy Program (HISP) and describe approaches that can be used to address this and other similar problems.