Objectives This paper aims to investigate the effects of enrollment in the Ethiopian community-based health insurance(CBHI)scheme on household preventive care activities and the timing of treatment-seeking behavior fo...Objectives This paper aims to investigate the effects of enrollment in the Ethiopian community-based health insurance(CBHI)scheme on household preventive care activities and the timing of treatment-seeking behavior for illness symptoms.There is growing concern about the financial sustainability of CBHI schemes in developing countries.However,few empirical studies have identified potential contributors,including ex-ante and ex-post moral hazards.Methods We implement a household fixed-effect panel data regression model,drawing on three rounds of household survey data collected face to face in districts where CBHI scheme is operational and in districts where it is not operational in Ethiopia.Results The findings show that enrolment in CBHI does not significantly influence household behaviour regarding preventive care activities such as water treatment before drinking and handwashing before meals.However,CBHI significantly increases delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for diseases symptoms.Particularly,on average,we estimate about 4-6 h delay for malaria symptoms,a little above 4 h for tetanus,and 10-11 h for tuberculosis among the insured households.Conclusions While there is evidence that CBHI improve the utilization of outpatient or primary care services,our study suggests that insured members may wait longer before visiting health facilities.This delay could be partly due to moral hazard problems,as insured households,particularly those from rural areas,may consider the opportunity costs associated with visiting health facilities for minor symptoms.Overall,it is essential to identify the primary causes of delays in seeking medical services and implement appropriate interventions to encourage insured individuals to seek early medical attention.展开更多
The WHO World Health Assembly, and the most recent WHO World Health Report, have called for all health systems to move toward universal coverage. However, low-income countries have made little progress in this respect...The WHO World Health Assembly, and the most recent WHO World Health Report, have called for all health systems to move toward universal coverage. However, low-income countries have made little progress in this respect. We use existing evidence to describe the evolution of community-based health insurance in low-income countries through the three stages of basic model, enhanced model, and nationwide model. We have concluded that community-based health insurance development is a potential strategy to meet the urgent need for health financing in low-income countries. With careful planning and implementation, it is possible to adopt such evolutionary approach to achieve universal coverage by extending tax-based financing/social insurance characteristics to community-based health insurance schemes.展开更多
Background: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes are increasingly implemented in low-income settings. These schemes limit the coverage they offer both by the types of care considered, and by applying thresh...Background: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes are increasingly implemented in low-income settings. These schemes limit the coverage they offer both by the types of care considered, and by applying thresholds and/or caps to costs reimbursed. The consequences of these thresholds and/or caps on insurance coverage have hitherto been usually ignored, for lack of data on the distributions of healthcare costs or understanding of their impact on effective coverage levels. This article describes a theoretical model to obtain the distributions even without data collection in the field, and demonstrates the quantitative impact of thresholds and/or caps on claim reimbursements. Methods: This model applies to applications on healthcare expenditures in low-income settings, following research methods examined in the Western world. We looked at hospitalizations and tests;we compared the simulated distributions to empirical data obtained through 11 household surveys conducted between 2008 and 2010 in rural locations (9 in India and 2 in Nepal). Results: We found that the shape of the distributions was very similar in all locations for both benefits, and could be represented by a model based on a lognormal distribution. The agreement between theoretical and empirical results was satisfactory (mostly within 10% difference). Conclusions: The model makes it possible to simulate the expected performance of the CBHI (represented by the percentage of costs or bills covered). The aim is to match costs with local levels of willingness-to-pay for health insurance. This model makes it possible to determine at the stage of package-design the optimal levels of thresholds and/or caps for each benefit-type included.展开更多
In this article,we comment on the work put forth by Wu et al regarding the investigation of oesophageal cancer-specific mortality for a cohort of patients from Chongqing University Cancer Hospital.We specifically focu...In this article,we comment on the work put forth by Wu et al regarding the investigation of oesophageal cancer-specific mortality for a cohort of patients from Chongqing University Cancer Hospital.We specifically focused on the implications of public health plans such as Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance(UEBMI)and Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance as well as out-of-pocket ratios on patient treatment plans regarding whether they pursue surgical interventions or therapeutic treatments such as chemotherapy.While Wu et al put forth potential explanations for why patients with the UEBMI plan surprisingly had a 23.30%increased risk of oesophageal cancer-specific death,more analysis is needed to alleviate cancer burden within this group.Although it is likely that patients covered by Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance and higher out-ofpocket ratios have stronger self-recovery awareness,more work must be done to improve outcomes for people with the UEBMI plan while simultaneously implementing international and domestic initiatives to better emphasize cancer prevention and early detection.Lastly,future research must explore the relationship between Serious Illness Medical Insurance as well as the New Rural Cooperative Medical System on the mortality rate of oesophageal cancer patients in rural China,where disease burden is significantly higher than urban areas.By unifying these public health insurance schemes,officials can significantly alleviate economic burden of treatment and better prognosis for patients with oesophageal cancer.展开更多
BACKGROUND Oesophageal cancer is a significant health concern worldwide,with high inci-dence and mortality rates.In China,the disease burden is particularly high,accounting for a substantial proportion of oesophageal ...BACKGROUND Oesophageal cancer is a significant health concern worldwide,with high inci-dence and mortality rates.In China,the disease burden is particularly high,accounting for a substantial proportion of oesophageal cancer cases and related deaths worldwide.AIM To explore the relationship between the mortality rate of oesophageal cancer patients and insurance type,out-of-pocket ratio,and the joint effects of insurance type and out-of-pocket ratio.METHODS The χ^(2) test was used to analyze patients’demographic and clinical characteristics.Multivariate logistic regression,the Cox proportional hazard model,and the competitive risk model were used to calculate the cumulative hazard ratios(HRs)of all-cause death and oesophageal cancer-specific death among patients with different types of insurance and out-of-pocket ratios.RESULTS Compared with patients covered by basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents,patients covered by urban employee basic medical insurance for urban workers(UEBMI)had a 23.30%increased risk of oesophageal cancer-specific death[HR=1.233,95%confidence interval(CI):1.093-1.391,P<0.005].Compared with patients in the low out-of-pocket ratio group,patients in the high out-of-pocket ratio group had a 25.80%reduction in the risk of oesophageal cancer-specific death(HR=0.742,95%CI:0.6555-0.84,P<0.005).With each 10%increase in the out-of-pocket ratio,the risk of oesophageal cancer-specific death decreased by 10.10%in patients covered by UEBMI.However,the risk of oesophageal cancer-specific death increased by 26.90%in patients in the high out-of-pocket ratio group.CONCLUSION This study reveals the relationships of the specific mortality rate of patients with oesophageal cancer with the out-of-pocket ratio and medical insurance types as well as their combined effects.This study provides practical suggestions and guidance for the formulation of relevant policies in this area.展开更多
China’s healthcare system faces increasing challenges,including surging medical costs,resource allocation imbalances favoring large hospitals,and ineffective referral mechanisms.The lack of a unified strategy integra...China’s healthcare system faces increasing challenges,including surging medical costs,resource allocation imbalances favoring large hospitals,and ineffective referral mechanisms.The lack of a unified strategy integrating standardized coverage with personalized payment compounds these issues.To this end,this study proposes a risk-sharing reform strategy that combines equal coverage for the same disease(ECSD)with an individualized out-of-pocket(I-OOP)model.Specifically,the study employs a Markov model to capture patient transitions across health states and care levels.The findings show that ECSD and I-OOP enhance equity by standardizing disease coverage while tailoring costs to patient income and facility type.This approach alleviates demand on high-tier hospitals,promoting primary care utilization and enabling balanced resource distribution.The study’s findings provide a reference for policymakers and healthcare administrators by presenting a scalable framework that is aligned with China’s development goals with the aim of fostering an efficient,sustainable healthcare system that is adaptable to regional needs.展开更多
BACKGROUND Private insurance coverage is associated with higher rates of living donor kidney transplantation(LDKT)but whether this is attributable to confounding is not known.AIM To study the association between incre...BACKGROUND Private insurance coverage is associated with higher rates of living donor kidney transplantation(LDKT)but whether this is attributable to confounding is not known.AIM To study the association between increased access to private health insurance and LDKT.METHODS Retrospective cohort study using United States transplant registry data.We identified incident candidates aged 22-29 years who were waitlisted for a kidneyonly transplant from 2005-2014,excluding prior transplant recipients and those with missing data.We calculated the hazard of LDKT after waitlisting for those with private insurance vs other insurance pre-Affordable Care Act(ACA)vs post-ACA,using death and delisting as competing events,for candidates affected by the policy change(age 22-25 years)vs those who were not(age 26-29 years).RESULTS A total of 13817 candidates were included,of whom 46%were age 22-25 years and 54%were age 26-29 years.Among candidates aged 22-25 years at listing,those listed post-ACA were more likely to have private insurance compared to those listed pre-ACA(42%vs 35%),but there was no difference in private insurance coverage between eras among candidates aged 26-29 years at listing.In adjusted competing risk regression,privately insured patients age 22-25 years were less likely to receive a LDKT post-ACA compared to pre-ACA[hazard ratio(HR)=0.88,95%CI:0.78-1.00],as were those aged 22-25 years old with other insurance types(HR=0.80,95%CI:0.69-0.92).These associations were not seen among candidates age 26-29 years.CONCLUSION Candidates age 22-25 years were likelier to have private insurance post-ACA,without an increased rate in LDKT.Demonstrations of associations between insurance and LDKT are likely attributable to residual confounding.展开更多
The article by Wu et al highlights the growing incidence of esophageal tumor patients,particularly in China,where the high frequency and death rate are significant problems.The article also examined the impact of heal...The article by Wu et al highlights the growing incidence of esophageal tumor patients,particularly in China,where the high frequency and death rate are significant problems.The article also examined the impact of health insurance on treatment availability and patient outcomes,demonstrating that the type of insurance can affect the financial burden on patients.This study investigates the effects of different types of health care coverage,namely Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance vs Urban-Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance,and the personal spending ratio on treatment decisions and survival outcomes.The database used is derived from esophageal tumor patient continuation from Chongqing University Hospital in China.A total of 2543 patients were included in the study,allowing for the formation of research cohorts.Patient information included demographic characteristics.The study followed various processes to maintain consistency,including data sources,inclusion and exclusion criteria,follow-up duration,health insurance,and statistical analysis.The average age at diagnosis ranged from 57-74 years,and predominantly included men,married people,and those of Han ethnic background,comprising 2088 and 2519 individuals,respectively.Upon controlling for age,sex,relationship status,country of origin,pathological evaluation,tumor stage,and biochemical indicators,individuals who had Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance exhibited a higher propensity to opt for radiotherapy,chemotherapy,immunotherapy,and targeted therapy compared to those covered by the Urban-Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance.During the follow-up phase of the study,a total of 1438 deaths were documented,with 1106 ascribed to esophageal cancer.Additionally,individuals with Urban-Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance had a significantly elevated risk of esophageal cancer,particularly mortality,compared to those without Urban-Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance.展开更多
One of the most significant annual expenses that a person has is their health insurance coverage. Health insurance accounts for one-third of GDP, and everyone needs medical treatment to varying degrees. Changes in med...One of the most significant annual expenses that a person has is their health insurance coverage. Health insurance accounts for one-third of GDP, and everyone needs medical treatment to varying degrees. Changes in medicine, pharmaceutical trends, and political factors are only a few of the many factors that cause annual fluctuations in healthcare costs. This paper describes how a system may analyse a person’s medical history to display their insurance plans and make predictions about their health insurance premiums. The performance of four ML models—XGBoost, Lasso, KNN, and Ridge—is evaluated using R2-score and RMSE. The analysis of medical health insurance cost prediction using Lasso regression, Ridge regression, and K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN), and XGBoost (XGB) highlights notable differences in performance. KNN has the lowest R2-score of 55.21 and an RMSE of 4431.1, indicating limited predictive ability. Ridge Regression improves on this by an R2-score of 78.38 but has a higher RMSE of 4652.06. Lasso Regression slightly edges out Ridge with an R2-score of 79.78, yet it suffers from an advanced RMSE of 5671.6. In contrast, XGBoost excels with the highest R2-score of 86.81 and the lowermost RMSE of 4450.4, demonstrating superior predictive accuracy and making it the most effective model for this task. The best method for accurately predicting health insurance premiums was XGBoost Regression. The findings beneficial for policymakers, insurers, and healthcare providers as they can use this information to allocate resources more efficiently and enhance cost-effectiveness in the healthcare industry.展开更多
Objective Acute aortic dissection （AAD） is a catastrophic event with high early mortality rate, but to date, no data on the incidence of AAD in China's Mainland is available. This study aimed to estimate the inc...Objective Acute aortic dissection （AAD） is a catastrophic event with high early mortality rate, but to date, no data on the incidence of AAD in China's Mainland is available. This study aimed to estimate the incidence of AAD in China and characterize the clinical profile, management and in-hospital outcomes of this vascular event. Methods We used the China Health Insurance Research Data （the CHIRA Data） 2011 which comprises all inpatient hospital records （300,886） during the period of Jan. 1st 2011 to Dec. 31 2011 of 3,335,000 randomly sampled beneficiaries （1,718,500 men and 1,616,500 women） from 25 cities and counties in different economic-geographic regions of China's Mainland. Patients with acute aortic dissection were identified according to International Classification of Disease 10m Revision （ICD-10） of I71.0, The estimated incidence of AAD was calculated using the equation： estimated incidence = 2.0 × （40% × hospital admission rate） ＋ 60% × hospital admission rate. Results The hospital admission rate was 2.0/100,000 （65/3,325,000, 95% CI： 1.2-2.8）. The estimated annual incidence of AAD was 2.8/100,000 （95% CI： 1.9-3.6） and was higher in male than in female （3.7 vs. 1.5, P 〈 0.001）. The mean age was 58.9 ± 13.4 years. During the mean hospital stay of 23 ±6 days, the overall in-hospital mortality was 13.9% （9/65）. Conclusions Our study showed relatively lower but not negligible incidence and in-hospital mortality of AAD in the mainland of China. The mean age of patients with AAD in Chinese was younger than that reported by researches from west countries, while the male to female incidence ratio is similar to those reported by other studies.展开更多
Objective:This study aims to examine the effects of a community-based friendly health clinic(CFHC)program that adopts manual participatory learning(MPL)intervention on the adolescents living in the rural and urban are...Objective:This study aims to examine the effects of a community-based friendly health clinic(CFHC)program that adopts manual participatory learning(MPL)intervention on the adolescents living in the rural and urban areas of Indonesia to gain further insights into their knowledge,attitudes,and skills related to adolescent reproductive health(ARH).Methods:A quasi-experimental design was used to obtain information on the ARH knowledge,attitudes,and skills of adolescents.Two intervention studies that used similar protocols and measures were conducted.A total of 192 adolescents(96 adolescents from urban and rural areas)participated in the project,and the participants from each area were divided into eight groups.A questionairre was adopted to measure the ARH knowledge,attitudes,and skills of these participants.A content analysis of the logbook entries of these respondents was conducted to identify their ARH-related problems.The questionnairre and self-reported ARH data were collected before and after the eight-week program.Results:The CFHC program significantly increased the ARH attitudes(p=0.045)and skills(p=0.009)of adolescents in the rural area,but only improved the ARH knowledge(p<0.001)of adolescents in both rural and urban areas.Fourteen themes were identified in three dominant categories,namely,schools,families,and communities.Conclusions:The CFHC with MPL intervention can improve the ARH knowledge,attitudes,and skills of adolescents in the rural area,but can only improve the ARH knowledge of adolescents in the urban area.The ARH program must be designed based on the characterictics of these adolescents to improve their life skills during puberty.展开更多
The purpose of the current study was to model the health insurance coverage of Jamaicans;and to identify the determinants, strength and predictive power of the model in order to aid clinicians and other health practit...The purpose of the current study was to model the health insurance coverage of Jamaicans;and to identify the determinants, strength and predictive power of the model in order to aid clinicians and other health practitioners in understanding those who have health insurance coverage. This study utilized secondary data taken from the dataset of the Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions which was collected between July and October 2002. It was a nationally representative stratified random sample survey of 25,018 respondents, with 50.7% females and 49.3% males. The data was collected by way of a self-administered questionnaire. The non-response rate for the survey was 29.7% with 20.5% not responding to particular questions, 9.0% not participating in the survey and another 0.2% being rejected due to data cleaning. The current research extracted 16,118 people 15 years and older from the survey sample of 25,018 respondents in order to model the determinants of private health insurance coverage in Jamaica. Data were stored, retrieved and analyzed using SPSS for Windows 15.0. A p-value of less than 0.05 was used to establish statistical significance. Descriptive analysis was used to provide baseline information on the sample, and cross-tabulations were used to examine some non-metric variables. Logistic regression was used to identify, determine and establish those factors that influence private health insurance coverage in Jamaica. This study found that approximately 12% of Jamaicans had private health insurance coverage, of which the least health insurance was owned by rural residents (7.5%). Using logistic regression, the findings revealed that twelve variables emerged as statistically significant determinants of health insurance coverage in this sample. These variables are social standing (two weal- thiest quintile: OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.23 – 2.30), income (OR = 1.00, 95%CI = 1.00 – 1.00), durable goods (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.12 – 1.19), marital status (married: OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.61 – 2.42), area of residence (Peri-urban: OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.199 – 1.75;urban: OR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.40 – 2.40), education (secondary: OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.20 – 2.06;tertiary: OR = 9.03, 95% CI = 6.47 – 12.59), social support (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.53 – 0.76), crowding (OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.02 – 1.28), psychological conditions (negative affective: OR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.94 – 1.00;positive affective: OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.06 – 1.16), number of males in household (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.77 – 0.93), living arrangements (OR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.41 – 0.92) and retirement benefits (OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.03 – 2.35). This study highlighted the need to address preventative care for the wealthiest, rural residents and the fact that social support is crucial to health care, as well as the fact that medical care costs are borne by the extended family and other social groups in which the individual is (or was) a member, which explains the low demand for health insurance in Jamaica. Private health care in Jamaica is substantially determined by affordability and education rather than illness, and it is a poor measure of the health care- seeking behaviour of Jamaicans.展开更多
Previous main body of research on end-life-care in South Korea has focused on developing services quality in hospital settings or service payment system in National Health Insurance Program. The delivery system of hos...Previous main body of research on end-life-care in South Korea has focused on developing services quality in hospital settings or service payment system in National Health Insurance Program. The delivery system of hospice and palliative care services has evolved in diverse ways but there is little research on reviewing the past history of development and whole picture of them so far. So, the aim of this study is to review the old hospice and palliative care system and also to introduce the current one supported by the National Health Insurance Program in South Korea. The palliative care or hospice services in South Korea have been available in diverse settings and provided by different organizations (i.e. catholic hospitals or charity organizations). Finally, it was set up in 2004 that the hospice team or official Palliative Care Units (PCUs) was established in hospitals, in order to meet the end-of-life care for the patients with terminal cancer under the Cancer Control Act. The current hospice and palliative care services such as pain management, bereavement services, and counselling can be reimbursed by National Health Insurance program since 2008. Nevertheless hospice and palliative care services are available to dying patients, yet the utilization rate of hospice and palliative care services or the length of stay in the palliative care unit (PCU) is still relatively short compared to other country systems. South Korea is undergoing several efforts to expand the services in PCU along with the development of quality indicators for PCU. Hospice and palliative care services are still new in the health care system and unfamiliar to the public so it requires raising awareness for medical professionals and the public as well as further research.展开更多
Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) disproportionately affects minority groups in the US, particularly Asian Americans, with numerous factors contributing to this disparity. Of the 2.4 million people living with chronic HBV in ...Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) disproportionately affects minority groups in the US, particularly Asian Americans, with numerous factors contributing to this disparity. Of the 2.4 million people living with chronic HBV in the US, 60% are Asian American. Many are unaware of their status and lack access to proper clinical care, with less than ten percent receiving necessary antiviral treatment. Barriers to screening and care include lack of disease awareness, language and cultural barriers, and financial constraints. Additionally, healthcare providers and systems in the US often overlook the importance of CHB, leading to inadequate care. In response, the Center for Viral Hepatitis (CVH) has implemented a community-based outreach program over the past sixteen years, employing a multifaceted approach involving all sectors of society and various organizations to combat health disparities in CHB. This grassroots campaign has proven highly effective, leveraging CVH’s leadership in spearheading numerous collaborative activities with community members, healthcare professionals, and policymakers. We have summarized the key points of CVH's efforts and their significance in combating CHB-related health disparities. The CHB Screening and Awareness Campaign, tailored to the Asian American community, serves as a successful model for increasing CHB screening, linkage-to-care, and addressing socio-cultural barriers and health literacy. Insights from these outreach programs have guided the development of culturally relevant resources and education initiatives. These findings suggest that such community-driven approaches are essential for addressing health disparities. The strategies and outcomes of CVH’s efforts can inform future health initiatives for other minority communities in the US and globally.展开更多
Life insurance companies,as equity stakeholders in policyholders’lives,have incentives to mitigate their health risks.I introduce a framework that enables life insurers to evaluate the financial viability of developi...Life insurance companies,as equity stakeholders in policyholders’lives,have incentives to mitigate their health risks.I introduce a framework that enables life insurers to evaluate the financial viability of developing and implementing health engagement programs.By leveraging a proprietary big database of health and mortality information from a large U.S.life insurer,I use machine learning techniques to quantify the benefits and use a rational addiction model to calculate the costs associated with these programs.The estimated net benefit available to the life insurer from the smoking cessation program is USD 87 million and the aggregate benefit from including other chronic conditions is USD 872 million.I explore the broader application of this framework in a general health policy context.展开更多
The health inequities remain high in India with government and private health expenditures clearly favoring the rich, urban population and organized sector workers and the Out Of Pocket (OOP) spending as high as 80%, ...The health inequities remain high in India with government and private health expenditures clearly favoring the rich, urban population and organized sector workers and the Out Of Pocket (OOP) spending as high as 80%, afflicting the poor in the worst manner. The focus of the paper is to examine the potential Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) offers to improve the healthcare access to rural, low-income population and the people in unorganized sector. This is done by drawing empirical evidence from various countries on their experiences of implementing CBHI schemes and its potential for applications to India, problems and challenges faced and the policy and management lessons that may be applicable to India. It can be concluded that CBHI schemes have proved to be effective in reducing the Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) of people. But success of such schemes depends on its design, benefit package it offers, its management, economic and non-economic benefits perceived by enrollees and solidarity among community members. Collaboration of government, NGO’s and donor agencies is very crucial in extending coverage;similarly overcoming the mistrust that people have from such schemes and subsidizing the insurance for the many who cannot pay the premiums are important factors for success of CBHI in India. One of the biggest challenges for the health system is to address the piecemeal approach of CBHI schemes in extending health insurance and inability of such schemes to cover a large number of poor and the unorganized sector workers. Also, there is a need for a stronger policy research to demonstrate: 1) how such schemes can create a larger risk pool, 2) how such schemes can enroll a large number of people in the unorganized sector, 3) the interaction of CBHI schemes with other financing schemes and its link to the health system.展开更多
Introduction: Since the introduction of the Health Insurance Act in the Netherlands in 2006, insurers are incentivized to compete on prices for basic health insurance, and on price and quality for supplementary insura...Introduction: Since the introduction of the Health Insurance Act in the Netherlands in 2006, insurers are incentivized to compete on prices for basic health insurance, and on price and quality for supplementary insurance. The new health insurance system aimed to create a more competitive market in which consumers would switch health plans, thereby stimulating insurers to price competition and quality improvement. This article evaluates the switching behavior of Dutch consumers and evaluates whether this behavior is advantageous to the goals of the reform. Methods: Three surveys were conducted: from 2005-2006 (n = 478), 2008-2009 (n = 389), and 2010-2011 (n = 191). Results: In 2005-2006, almost 20 percent of the Dutch consumers switched their insurance company. In between 2006 and 2012, however, the percentage of switchers decreased to less than four percent. The main cause of this decrease is that consumers no longer perceive sufficient differences between insurance companies in terms of premium and service. In addition, consumers have difficulties finding the proper information making the right decision and believe they may not be accepted for the supplementary insurance. Consequently, insurance companies only perceive limited incentives to create a more competitive market. Conclusion: Clear and unambiguous information, combined with an obligatory acceptance for the supplementary insurance might help to improve the potential mobility of Dutch consumers.展开更多
Introduction: Several Nigerians are completely denied access to adequate health care because of cultural, temporal and financial factors with inequity. Objectives: To ascertain the household perceptions, willingness t...Introduction: Several Nigerians are completely denied access to adequate health care because of cultural, temporal and financial factors with inequity. Objectives: To ascertain the household perceptions, willingness to pay, benefit package preferences, and health systems readiness for Insurance Scheme. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 400 heads of households and 43 health workers in Enugu, Southern Nigeria. Results: Awareness of NHIS among the heads of household was 56.8%, while it was 86% among the health workers. Awareness of NHIS among heads of households was significantly associated to both educational level (X<sup>2</sup> = 16.083, P = 0.001), and occupation (X<sup>2</sup> = 5.694, P = 0.017). More males (61.6%) had correct perceptions of NHIS compared to females (58.6%), but not statistically significant (X<sup>2 </sup>= 0.336, P = 0.562). Majority of households respondents 89% are willing to pay for NHIS. Willingness to pay was significantly associated to occupation (X<sup>2</sup> = 5.169, df = 1, P = 0.023), but willingness to pay mandatory 5% premium was not significantly associated to occupation (X<sup>2</sup> = 0.884, P = 347). Only 11.6% of the health facilities are enlisted as providers in the scheme. Conclusion: Willingness to pay was high, but majority are not ready to pay 5% premium of their earnings. Awareness creation programmes should be improved for the public, and more health facilities enlisted for wider coverage.展开更多
Context: To facilitate financial access to care for the population, health insurance mechanisms have been established, in particular the National Health Insurance Institute, which covers civil servants and their depen...Context: To facilitate financial access to care for the population, health insurance mechanisms have been established, in particular the National Health Insurance Institute, which covers civil servants and their dependents. In addition, other voluntary and community mechanisms have been developed. After several years of implementation, the level of catastrophic health expenditures among insured individuals shows that there is still a considerable level of financial risk associated with health care. This study aims to assess the impact of health insurance in Togo on insured populations. Methodology: The data used in this study come from the harmonized survey on household living conditions carried out in 2018 by the National Institute of Statistics, Economic and Demographic Studies. The propensity score matching method was used according to the following steps: estimation of propensity scores, verification of the conditional independence hypothesis (balancing property) and estimation of the average treatment effect on treated. Stata V14.2 software was used. Findings: The average effect of health insurance on household financial protection is −0.012 for the nearest neighbor method, −0.013 for the matching radius method, −0.015 for the Kernel and −0.016 for the stratification method. Results showed that health insurance contributes to reducing catastrophic health expenditures, but their effect remains very limited. This could be explained by the level of care package covered and the cost covered. Conclusion: Health insurance contributes to the reduction of catastrophic health expenses for households. However, it is important to widen the range of care covered and the cost covered. In addition, measures to extend this coverage to a larger proportion of the population will make it possible to have a greater impact.展开更多
Currently, a consumer＇s monthly premium payment amount remitted to the National Health Insurance is based on the ＂monthly real wages,＂ while commercial health insurance uses ＂consumer age＂ as the basis for the pr...Currently, a consumer＇s monthly premium payment amount remitted to the National Health Insurance is based on the ＂monthly real wages,＂ while commercial health insurance uses ＂consumer age＂ as the basis for the premium amount charged. In reality, health, salary, and age have no visible connection. Therefore, the insurance premium scheme using salary and age as standards should be improved and adjusted upon. This study uses the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior as the research basis, and through the designed questionnaire, investigates the health data gathered from wearable devices and uses big data to process the constructed health assessment indicators. These indicators will be used to analyze whether consumers are willing to contribute to their health insurance using the dynamic payment mechanism. Subsequently, empirical research was performed using hypothesis architecture and structural equation.展开更多
基金The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Dutch Research Council(NWO-WOTRO)(Grant No.W07.45.103.00)and the support of D.P.Hoijer Fonds,Erasmus Trustfonds,Erasmus University Rotterdam.
文摘Objectives This paper aims to investigate the effects of enrollment in the Ethiopian community-based health insurance(CBHI)scheme on household preventive care activities and the timing of treatment-seeking behavior for illness symptoms.There is growing concern about the financial sustainability of CBHI schemes in developing countries.However,few empirical studies have identified potential contributors,including ex-ante and ex-post moral hazards.Methods We implement a household fixed-effect panel data regression model,drawing on three rounds of household survey data collected face to face in districts where CBHI scheme is operational and in districts where it is not operational in Ethiopia.Results The findings show that enrolment in CBHI does not significantly influence household behaviour regarding preventive care activities such as water treatment before drinking and handwashing before meals.However,CBHI significantly increases delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for diseases symptoms.Particularly,on average,we estimate about 4-6 h delay for malaria symptoms,a little above 4 h for tetanus,and 10-11 h for tuberculosis among the insured households.Conclusions While there is evidence that CBHI improve the utilization of outpatient or primary care services,our study suggests that insured members may wait longer before visiting health facilities.This delay could be partly due to moral hazard problems,as insured households,particularly those from rural areas,may consider the opportunity costs associated with visiting health facilities for minor symptoms.Overall,it is essential to identify the primary causes of delays in seeking medical services and implement appropriate interventions to encourage insured individuals to seek early medical attention.
文摘The WHO World Health Assembly, and the most recent WHO World Health Report, have called for all health systems to move toward universal coverage. However, low-income countries have made little progress in this respect. We use existing evidence to describe the evolution of community-based health insurance in low-income countries through the three stages of basic model, enhanced model, and nationwide model. We have concluded that community-based health insurance development is a potential strategy to meet the urgent need for health financing in low-income countries. With careful planning and implementation, it is possible to adopt such evolutionary approach to achieve universal coverage by extending tax-based financing/social insurance characteristics to community-based health insurance schemes.
文摘Background: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes are increasingly implemented in low-income settings. These schemes limit the coverage they offer both by the types of care considered, and by applying thresholds and/or caps to costs reimbursed. The consequences of these thresholds and/or caps on insurance coverage have hitherto been usually ignored, for lack of data on the distributions of healthcare costs or understanding of their impact on effective coverage levels. This article describes a theoretical model to obtain the distributions even without data collection in the field, and demonstrates the quantitative impact of thresholds and/or caps on claim reimbursements. Methods: This model applies to applications on healthcare expenditures in low-income settings, following research methods examined in the Western world. We looked at hospitalizations and tests;we compared the simulated distributions to empirical data obtained through 11 household surveys conducted between 2008 and 2010 in rural locations (9 in India and 2 in Nepal). Results: We found that the shape of the distributions was very similar in all locations for both benefits, and could be represented by a model based on a lognormal distribution. The agreement between theoretical and empirical results was satisfactory (mostly within 10% difference). Conclusions: The model makes it possible to simulate the expected performance of the CBHI (represented by the percentage of costs or bills covered). The aim is to match costs with local levels of willingness-to-pay for health insurance. This model makes it possible to determine at the stage of package-design the optimal levels of thresholds and/or caps for each benefit-type included.
文摘In this article,we comment on the work put forth by Wu et al regarding the investigation of oesophageal cancer-specific mortality for a cohort of patients from Chongqing University Cancer Hospital.We specifically focused on the implications of public health plans such as Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance(UEBMI)and Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance as well as out-of-pocket ratios on patient treatment plans regarding whether they pursue surgical interventions or therapeutic treatments such as chemotherapy.While Wu et al put forth potential explanations for why patients with the UEBMI plan surprisingly had a 23.30%increased risk of oesophageal cancer-specific death,more analysis is needed to alleviate cancer burden within this group.Although it is likely that patients covered by Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance and higher out-ofpocket ratios have stronger self-recovery awareness,more work must be done to improve outcomes for people with the UEBMI plan while simultaneously implementing international and domestic initiatives to better emphasize cancer prevention and early detection.Lastly,future research must explore the relationship between Serious Illness Medical Insurance as well as the New Rural Cooperative Medical System on the mortality rate of oesophageal cancer patients in rural China,where disease burden is significantly higher than urban areas.By unifying these public health insurance schemes,officials can significantly alleviate economic burden of treatment and better prognosis for patients with oesophageal cancer.
基金Supported by the Chongqing Science and Health Joint Medical Research Project,No.2024MSXM065.
文摘BACKGROUND Oesophageal cancer is a significant health concern worldwide,with high inci-dence and mortality rates.In China,the disease burden is particularly high,accounting for a substantial proportion of oesophageal cancer cases and related deaths worldwide.AIM To explore the relationship between the mortality rate of oesophageal cancer patients and insurance type,out-of-pocket ratio,and the joint effects of insurance type and out-of-pocket ratio.METHODS The χ^(2) test was used to analyze patients’demographic and clinical characteristics.Multivariate logistic regression,the Cox proportional hazard model,and the competitive risk model were used to calculate the cumulative hazard ratios(HRs)of all-cause death and oesophageal cancer-specific death among patients with different types of insurance and out-of-pocket ratios.RESULTS Compared with patients covered by basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents,patients covered by urban employee basic medical insurance for urban workers(UEBMI)had a 23.30%increased risk of oesophageal cancer-specific death[HR=1.233,95%confidence interval(CI):1.093-1.391,P<0.005].Compared with patients in the low out-of-pocket ratio group,patients in the high out-of-pocket ratio group had a 25.80%reduction in the risk of oesophageal cancer-specific death(HR=0.742,95%CI:0.6555-0.84,P<0.005).With each 10%increase in the out-of-pocket ratio,the risk of oesophageal cancer-specific death decreased by 10.10%in patients covered by UEBMI.However,the risk of oesophageal cancer-specific death increased by 26.90%in patients in the high out-of-pocket ratio group.CONCLUSION This study reveals the relationships of the specific mortality rate of patients with oesophageal cancer with the out-of-pocket ratio and medical insurance types as well as their combined effects.This study provides practical suggestions and guidance for the formulation of relevant policies in this area.
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.72071042)。
文摘China’s healthcare system faces increasing challenges,including surging medical costs,resource allocation imbalances favoring large hospitals,and ineffective referral mechanisms.The lack of a unified strategy integrating standardized coverage with personalized payment compounds these issues.To this end,this study proposes a risk-sharing reform strategy that combines equal coverage for the same disease(ECSD)with an individualized out-of-pocket(I-OOP)model.Specifically,the study employs a Markov model to capture patient transitions across health states and care levels.The findings show that ECSD and I-OOP enhance equity by standardizing disease coverage while tailoring costs to patient income and facility type.This approach alleviates demand on high-tier hospitals,promoting primary care utilization and enabling balanced resource distribution.The study’s findings provide a reference for policymakers and healthcare administrators by presenting a scalable framework that is aligned with China’s development goals with the aim of fostering an efficient,sustainable healthcare system that is adaptable to regional needs.
基金Supported by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases,United States,No.K23DK133729。
文摘BACKGROUND Private insurance coverage is associated with higher rates of living donor kidney transplantation(LDKT)but whether this is attributable to confounding is not known.AIM To study the association between increased access to private health insurance and LDKT.METHODS Retrospective cohort study using United States transplant registry data.We identified incident candidates aged 22-29 years who were waitlisted for a kidneyonly transplant from 2005-2014,excluding prior transplant recipients and those with missing data.We calculated the hazard of LDKT after waitlisting for those with private insurance vs other insurance pre-Affordable Care Act(ACA)vs post-ACA,using death and delisting as competing events,for candidates affected by the policy change(age 22-25 years)vs those who were not(age 26-29 years).RESULTS A total of 13817 candidates were included,of whom 46%were age 22-25 years and 54%were age 26-29 years.Among candidates aged 22-25 years at listing,those listed post-ACA were more likely to have private insurance compared to those listed pre-ACA(42%vs 35%),but there was no difference in private insurance coverage between eras among candidates aged 26-29 years at listing.In adjusted competing risk regression,privately insured patients age 22-25 years were less likely to receive a LDKT post-ACA compared to pre-ACA[hazard ratio(HR)=0.88,95%CI:0.78-1.00],as were those aged 22-25 years old with other insurance types(HR=0.80,95%CI:0.69-0.92).These associations were not seen among candidates age 26-29 years.CONCLUSION Candidates age 22-25 years were likelier to have private insurance post-ACA,without an increased rate in LDKT.Demonstrations of associations between insurance and LDKT are likely attributable to residual confounding.
文摘The article by Wu et al highlights the growing incidence of esophageal tumor patients,particularly in China,where the high frequency and death rate are significant problems.The article also examined the impact of health insurance on treatment availability and patient outcomes,demonstrating that the type of insurance can affect the financial burden on patients.This study investigates the effects of different types of health care coverage,namely Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance vs Urban-Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance,and the personal spending ratio on treatment decisions and survival outcomes.The database used is derived from esophageal tumor patient continuation from Chongqing University Hospital in China.A total of 2543 patients were included in the study,allowing for the formation of research cohorts.Patient information included demographic characteristics.The study followed various processes to maintain consistency,including data sources,inclusion and exclusion criteria,follow-up duration,health insurance,and statistical analysis.The average age at diagnosis ranged from 57-74 years,and predominantly included men,married people,and those of Han ethnic background,comprising 2088 and 2519 individuals,respectively.Upon controlling for age,sex,relationship status,country of origin,pathological evaluation,tumor stage,and biochemical indicators,individuals who had Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance exhibited a higher propensity to opt for radiotherapy,chemotherapy,immunotherapy,and targeted therapy compared to those covered by the Urban-Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance.During the follow-up phase of the study,a total of 1438 deaths were documented,with 1106 ascribed to esophageal cancer.Additionally,individuals with Urban-Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance had a significantly elevated risk of esophageal cancer,particularly mortality,compared to those without Urban-Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance.
文摘One of the most significant annual expenses that a person has is their health insurance coverage. Health insurance accounts for one-third of GDP, and everyone needs medical treatment to varying degrees. Changes in medicine, pharmaceutical trends, and political factors are only a few of the many factors that cause annual fluctuations in healthcare costs. This paper describes how a system may analyse a person’s medical history to display their insurance plans and make predictions about their health insurance premiums. The performance of four ML models—XGBoost, Lasso, KNN, and Ridge—is evaluated using R2-score and RMSE. The analysis of medical health insurance cost prediction using Lasso regression, Ridge regression, and K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN), and XGBoost (XGB) highlights notable differences in performance. KNN has the lowest R2-score of 55.21 and an RMSE of 4431.1, indicating limited predictive ability. Ridge Regression improves on this by an R2-score of 78.38 but has a higher RMSE of 4652.06. Lasso Regression slightly edges out Ridge with an R2-score of 79.78, yet it suffers from an advanced RMSE of 5671.6. In contrast, XGBoost excels with the highest R2-score of 86.81 and the lowermost RMSE of 4450.4, demonstrating superior predictive accuracy and making it the most effective model for this task. The best method for accurately predicting health insurance premiums was XGBoost Regression. The findings beneficial for policymakers, insurers, and healthcare providers as they can use this information to allocate resources more efficiently and enhance cost-effectiveness in the healthcare industry.
文摘Objective Acute aortic dissection （AAD） is a catastrophic event with high early mortality rate, but to date, no data on the incidence of AAD in China's Mainland is available. This study aimed to estimate the incidence of AAD in China and characterize the clinical profile, management and in-hospital outcomes of this vascular event. Methods We used the China Health Insurance Research Data （the CHIRA Data） 2011 which comprises all inpatient hospital records （300,886） during the period of Jan. 1st 2011 to Dec. 31 2011 of 3,335,000 randomly sampled beneficiaries （1,718,500 men and 1,616,500 women） from 25 cities and counties in different economic-geographic regions of China's Mainland. Patients with acute aortic dissection were identified according to International Classification of Disease 10m Revision （ICD-10） of I71.0, The estimated incidence of AAD was calculated using the equation： estimated incidence = 2.0 × （40% × hospital admission rate） ＋ 60% × hospital admission rate. Results The hospital admission rate was 2.0/100,000 （65/3,325,000, 95% CI： 1.2-2.8）. The estimated annual incidence of AAD was 2.8/100,000 （95% CI： 1.9-3.6） and was higher in male than in female （3.7 vs. 1.5, P 〈 0.001）. The mean age was 58.9 ± 13.4 years. During the mean hospital stay of 23 ±6 days, the overall in-hospital mortality was 13.9% （9/65）. Conclusions Our study showed relatively lower but not negligible incidence and in-hospital mortality of AAD in the mainland of China. The mean age of patients with AAD in Chinese was younger than that reported by researches from west countries, while the male to female incidence ratio is similar to those reported by other studies.
基金The author(s)would like to thank the grant is provided by the Ministry of Research,Technology,and Higher Education,Directorate General of Resources for Research,Technology and Higher Education of Indonesia for providing this research,School of Nursing,University of Jember,and Research Center Department(Lembaga Penelitian)of University of Jember.
文摘Objective:This study aims to examine the effects of a community-based friendly health clinic(CFHC)program that adopts manual participatory learning(MPL)intervention on the adolescents living in the rural and urban areas of Indonesia to gain further insights into their knowledge,attitudes,and skills related to adolescent reproductive health(ARH).Methods:A quasi-experimental design was used to obtain information on the ARH knowledge,attitudes,and skills of adolescents.Two intervention studies that used similar protocols and measures were conducted.A total of 192 adolescents(96 adolescents from urban and rural areas)participated in the project,and the participants from each area were divided into eight groups.A questionairre was adopted to measure the ARH knowledge,attitudes,and skills of these participants.A content analysis of the logbook entries of these respondents was conducted to identify their ARH-related problems.The questionnairre and self-reported ARH data were collected before and after the eight-week program.Results:The CFHC program significantly increased the ARH attitudes(p=0.045)and skills(p=0.009)of adolescents in the rural area,but only improved the ARH knowledge(p<0.001)of adolescents in both rural and urban areas.Fourteen themes were identified in three dominant categories,namely,schools,families,and communities.Conclusions:The CFHC with MPL intervention can improve the ARH knowledge,attitudes,and skills of adolescents in the rural area,but can only improve the ARH knowledge of adolescents in the urban area.The ARH program must be designed based on the characterictics of these adolescents to improve their life skills during puberty.
文摘The purpose of the current study was to model the health insurance coverage of Jamaicans;and to identify the determinants, strength and predictive power of the model in order to aid clinicians and other health practitioners in understanding those who have health insurance coverage. This study utilized secondary data taken from the dataset of the Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions which was collected between July and October 2002. It was a nationally representative stratified random sample survey of 25,018 respondents, with 50.7% females and 49.3% males. The data was collected by way of a self-administered questionnaire. The non-response rate for the survey was 29.7% with 20.5% not responding to particular questions, 9.0% not participating in the survey and another 0.2% being rejected due to data cleaning. The current research extracted 16,118 people 15 years and older from the survey sample of 25,018 respondents in order to model the determinants of private health insurance coverage in Jamaica. Data were stored, retrieved and analyzed using SPSS for Windows 15.0. A p-value of less than 0.05 was used to establish statistical significance. Descriptive analysis was used to provide baseline information on the sample, and cross-tabulations were used to examine some non-metric variables. Logistic regression was used to identify, determine and establish those factors that influence private health insurance coverage in Jamaica. This study found that approximately 12% of Jamaicans had private health insurance coverage, of which the least health insurance was owned by rural residents (7.5%). Using logistic regression, the findings revealed that twelve variables emerged as statistically significant determinants of health insurance coverage in this sample. These variables are social standing (two weal- thiest quintile: OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.23 – 2.30), income (OR = 1.00, 95%CI = 1.00 – 1.00), durable goods (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.12 – 1.19), marital status (married: OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.61 – 2.42), area of residence (Peri-urban: OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.199 – 1.75;urban: OR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.40 – 2.40), education (secondary: OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.20 – 2.06;tertiary: OR = 9.03, 95% CI = 6.47 – 12.59), social support (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.53 – 0.76), crowding (OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.02 – 1.28), psychological conditions (negative affective: OR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.94 – 1.00;positive affective: OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.06 – 1.16), number of males in household (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.77 – 0.93), living arrangements (OR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.41 – 0.92) and retirement benefits (OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.03 – 2.35). This study highlighted the need to address preventative care for the wealthiest, rural residents and the fact that social support is crucial to health care, as well as the fact that medical care costs are borne by the extended family and other social groups in which the individual is (or was) a member, which explains the low demand for health insurance in Jamaica. Private health care in Jamaica is substantially determined by affordability and education rather than illness, and it is a poor measure of the health care- seeking behaviour of Jamaicans.
文摘Previous main body of research on end-life-care in South Korea has focused on developing services quality in hospital settings or service payment system in National Health Insurance Program. The delivery system of hospice and palliative care services has evolved in diverse ways but there is little research on reviewing the past history of development and whole picture of them so far. So, the aim of this study is to review the old hospice and palliative care system and also to introduce the current one supported by the National Health Insurance Program in South Korea. The palliative care or hospice services in South Korea have been available in diverse settings and provided by different organizations (i.e. catholic hospitals or charity organizations). Finally, it was set up in 2004 that the hospice team or official Palliative Care Units (PCUs) was established in hospitals, in order to meet the end-of-life care for the patients with terminal cancer under the Cancer Control Act. The current hospice and palliative care services such as pain management, bereavement services, and counselling can be reimbursed by National Health Insurance program since 2008. Nevertheless hospice and palliative care services are available to dying patients, yet the utilization rate of hospice and palliative care services or the length of stay in the palliative care unit (PCU) is still relatively short compared to other country systems. South Korea is undergoing several efforts to expand the services in PCU along with the development of quality indicators for PCU. Hospice and palliative care services are still new in the health care system and unfamiliar to the public so it requires raising awareness for medical professionals and the public as well as further research.
文摘Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) disproportionately affects minority groups in the US, particularly Asian Americans, with numerous factors contributing to this disparity. Of the 2.4 million people living with chronic HBV in the US, 60% are Asian American. Many are unaware of their status and lack access to proper clinical care, with less than ten percent receiving necessary antiviral treatment. Barriers to screening and care include lack of disease awareness, language and cultural barriers, and financial constraints. Additionally, healthcare providers and systems in the US often overlook the importance of CHB, leading to inadequate care. In response, the Center for Viral Hepatitis (CVH) has implemented a community-based outreach program over the past sixteen years, employing a multifaceted approach involving all sectors of society and various organizations to combat health disparities in CHB. This grassroots campaign has proven highly effective, leveraging CVH’s leadership in spearheading numerous collaborative activities with community members, healthcare professionals, and policymakers. We have summarized the key points of CVH's efforts and their significance in combating CHB-related health disparities. The CHB Screening and Awareness Campaign, tailored to the Asian American community, serves as a successful model for increasing CHB screening, linkage-to-care, and addressing socio-cultural barriers and health literacy. Insights from these outreach programs have guided the development of culturally relevant resources and education initiatives. These findings suggest that such community-driven approaches are essential for addressing health disparities. The strategies and outcomes of CVH’s efforts can inform future health initiatives for other minority communities in the US and globally.
文摘Life insurance companies,as equity stakeholders in policyholders’lives,have incentives to mitigate their health risks.I introduce a framework that enables life insurers to evaluate the financial viability of developing and implementing health engagement programs.By leveraging a proprietary big database of health and mortality information from a large U.S.life insurer,I use machine learning techniques to quantify the benefits and use a rational addiction model to calculate the costs associated with these programs.The estimated net benefit available to the life insurer from the smoking cessation program is USD 87 million and the aggregate benefit from including other chronic conditions is USD 872 million.I explore the broader application of this framework in a general health policy context.
文摘The health inequities remain high in India with government and private health expenditures clearly favoring the rich, urban population and organized sector workers and the Out Of Pocket (OOP) spending as high as 80%, afflicting the poor in the worst manner. The focus of the paper is to examine the potential Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) offers to improve the healthcare access to rural, low-income population and the people in unorganized sector. This is done by drawing empirical evidence from various countries on their experiences of implementing CBHI schemes and its potential for applications to India, problems and challenges faced and the policy and management lessons that may be applicable to India. It can be concluded that CBHI schemes have proved to be effective in reducing the Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) of people. But success of such schemes depends on its design, benefit package it offers, its management, economic and non-economic benefits perceived by enrollees and solidarity among community members. Collaboration of government, NGO’s and donor agencies is very crucial in extending coverage;similarly overcoming the mistrust that people have from such schemes and subsidizing the insurance for the many who cannot pay the premiums are important factors for success of CBHI in India. One of the biggest challenges for the health system is to address the piecemeal approach of CBHI schemes in extending health insurance and inability of such schemes to cover a large number of poor and the unorganized sector workers. Also, there is a need for a stronger policy research to demonstrate: 1) how such schemes can create a larger risk pool, 2) how such schemes can enroll a large number of people in the unorganized sector, 3) the interaction of CBHI schemes with other financing schemes and its link to the health system.
文摘Introduction: Since the introduction of the Health Insurance Act in the Netherlands in 2006, insurers are incentivized to compete on prices for basic health insurance, and on price and quality for supplementary insurance. The new health insurance system aimed to create a more competitive market in which consumers would switch health plans, thereby stimulating insurers to price competition and quality improvement. This article evaluates the switching behavior of Dutch consumers and evaluates whether this behavior is advantageous to the goals of the reform. Methods: Three surveys were conducted: from 2005-2006 (n = 478), 2008-2009 (n = 389), and 2010-2011 (n = 191). Results: In 2005-2006, almost 20 percent of the Dutch consumers switched their insurance company. In between 2006 and 2012, however, the percentage of switchers decreased to less than four percent. The main cause of this decrease is that consumers no longer perceive sufficient differences between insurance companies in terms of premium and service. In addition, consumers have difficulties finding the proper information making the right decision and believe they may not be accepted for the supplementary insurance. Consequently, insurance companies only perceive limited incentives to create a more competitive market. Conclusion: Clear and unambiguous information, combined with an obligatory acceptance for the supplementary insurance might help to improve the potential mobility of Dutch consumers.
文摘Introduction: Several Nigerians are completely denied access to adequate health care because of cultural, temporal and financial factors with inequity. Objectives: To ascertain the household perceptions, willingness to pay, benefit package preferences, and health systems readiness for Insurance Scheme. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 400 heads of households and 43 health workers in Enugu, Southern Nigeria. Results: Awareness of NHIS among the heads of household was 56.8%, while it was 86% among the health workers. Awareness of NHIS among heads of households was significantly associated to both educational level (X<sup>2</sup> = 16.083, P = 0.001), and occupation (X<sup>2</sup> = 5.694, P = 0.017). More males (61.6%) had correct perceptions of NHIS compared to females (58.6%), but not statistically significant (X<sup>2 </sup>= 0.336, P = 0.562). Majority of households respondents 89% are willing to pay for NHIS. Willingness to pay was significantly associated to occupation (X<sup>2</sup> = 5.169, df = 1, P = 0.023), but willingness to pay mandatory 5% premium was not significantly associated to occupation (X<sup>2</sup> = 0.884, P = 347). Only 11.6% of the health facilities are enlisted as providers in the scheme. Conclusion: Willingness to pay was high, but majority are not ready to pay 5% premium of their earnings. Awareness creation programmes should be improved for the public, and more health facilities enlisted for wider coverage.
文摘Context: To facilitate financial access to care for the population, health insurance mechanisms have been established, in particular the National Health Insurance Institute, which covers civil servants and their dependents. In addition, other voluntary and community mechanisms have been developed. After several years of implementation, the level of catastrophic health expenditures among insured individuals shows that there is still a considerable level of financial risk associated with health care. This study aims to assess the impact of health insurance in Togo on insured populations. Methodology: The data used in this study come from the harmonized survey on household living conditions carried out in 2018 by the National Institute of Statistics, Economic and Demographic Studies. The propensity score matching method was used according to the following steps: estimation of propensity scores, verification of the conditional independence hypothesis (balancing property) and estimation of the average treatment effect on treated. Stata V14.2 software was used. Findings: The average effect of health insurance on household financial protection is −0.012 for the nearest neighbor method, −0.013 for the matching radius method, −0.015 for the Kernel and −0.016 for the stratification method. Results showed that health insurance contributes to reducing catastrophic health expenditures, but their effect remains very limited. This could be explained by the level of care package covered and the cost covered. Conclusion: Health insurance contributes to the reduction of catastrophic health expenses for households. However, it is important to widen the range of care covered and the cost covered. In addition, measures to extend this coverage to a larger proportion of the population will make it possible to have a greater impact.
文摘Currently, a consumer＇s monthly premium payment amount remitted to the National Health Insurance is based on the ＂monthly real wages,＂ while commercial health insurance uses ＂consumer age＂ as the basis for the premium amount charged. In reality, health, salary, and age have no visible connection. Therefore, the insurance premium scheme using salary and age as standards should be improved and adjusted upon. This study uses the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior as the research basis, and through the designed questionnaire, investigates the health data gathered from wearable devices and uses big data to process the constructed health assessment indicators. These indicators will be used to analyze whether consumers are willing to contribute to their health insurance using the dynamic payment mechanism. Subsequently, empirical research was performed using hypothesis architecture and structural equation.
