Evaluating the financial protection of patients with chronic disease by health insurance in rural China

Background  

A growing number of developing countries are developing health insurance schemes that aim to protect households, particularly the poor, from financial catastrophe and impoverishment caused by unaffordable medical care. This paper investigates the extent to which patients suffering from chronic disease in rural China face catastrophic expenditure on healthcare, and how far the New Co-operative Medical Insurance Scheme (NCMS) offers them financial protection against this.     

Effect of household and village characteristics on financial catastrophe and impoverishment due to health care spending in Western and Central Rural China: A multilevel analysis

Objective  

The study aimed to examine the effect of household and community characteristics on financial catastrophe and impoverishment due to health payment in Western and Central Rural China.     

Social health assistance schemes: the case of Medical Financial Assistance for the rural poor in four counties of China

Background  

Economic transition which took place in China over the last three decades, has led to a rapid marketization of the health care sector. Today inequity in health and poverty resulting from major illness has become a serious problem in rural areas of China. Medical Financial Assistance (MFA) is a health assistance scheme that helps rural poor people cope with major illness and alleviate their financial burden from major illness, which will definitely play a significant role in the process of rebuilding Chinese new rural health system. It mainly provides assistance to cover medical expenditure for inpatient services or the treatment of major illnesses, with joint funding from the central and local government. The purpose of this paper is to review the design, funding, implementation and to explore the preliminary effects of four counties' MFA in Hubei and Sichuan province of China.     

Factors affecting catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment from medical expenses in China: policy implications of universal health insurance

Objective

To assess the degree to which the Chinese people are protected from catastrophic household expenditure and impoverishment from medical expenses and to explore the health system and structural factors influencing the first of these outcomes.

Methods

Data were derived from the Fourth National Health Service Survey. An analysis of catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment from medical expenses was undertaken with a sample of 55 556 households of different characteristics and located in rural and urban settings in different parts of the country. Logistic regression was used to identify the determinants of catastrophic health expenditure.

Findings

The rate of catastrophic health expenditure was 13.0%; that of impoverishment was 7.5%. Rates of catastrophic health expenditure were higher among households having members who were hospitalized, elderly, or chronically ill, as well as in households in rural or poorer regions. A combination of adverse factors increased the risk of catastrophic health expenditure. Families enrolled in the urban employee or resident insurance schemes had lower rates of catastrophic health expenditure than those enrolled in the new rural corporative scheme. The need for and use of health care, demographics, type of benefit package and type of provider payment method were the determinants of catastrophic health expenditure.

Conclusion

Although China has greatly expanded health insurance coverage, financial protection remains insufficient. Policy-makers should focus on designing improved insurance plans by expanding the benefit package, redesigning cost sharing arrangements and provider payment methods and developing more effective expenditure control strategies.     

我国农村居民灾难性卫生支出的制度成因分析

目的：中国农村人口的健康问题与中国社会的可持续发展密切相关。我国农村仍存在因病致贫、因病返贫现象。利用灾难性卫生支出率和致贫率作为测量工具,来衡量新型农村合作医疗的保障力度。方法：数据来源于第四次卫生服务调查,采用WHO推荐的方法计算灾难性卫生支出。结果：农村人口的灾难性卫生支出发生率为14.4%,致贫率为9.2%,且两者与地区经济水平呈负相关,最为贫困的西部灾难性卫生支出发生率及致贫率最高,分别为15.8%和10.8%;有住院病人的农村家庭发生灾难性卫生支出和致贫的风险最大。结论与建议：中国农村灾难性卫生支出发生率较高是受多种因素共同影响的结果。其中,新农合制度的保障水平不高,缺乏遏制医疗费用快速上涨有效机制,特别是现存以服务项目付费为主导的支付方式,是导致农村灾难性卫生支出发生率较高的主要制度成因。因此,应以完善新型农村合作医疗的制度设计为重点,加大政府对医疗机构的投入,强化各种配套制度和机制的安排。     

Health shock,catastrophic expenditure and its consequences on welfare of the household engaged in informal sector

Purpose

Despite significant contribution by India’s informal sector, tattered conditions have inflated the burden of health shocks in many ways. This study tries to examine the economic burden of health shocks and its associated consequences on households whose members are involved in informal sector. We primarily focus on three objectives for our analysis: (1) compute distribution and magnitude of health shocks and health expenditure between formal and informal workers; (2) evaluate the incidence and intensity of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE), and measure its impoverishment effect; (3) estimate the major determinants of CHE for informal sector households.

Methods

Underlying objectives have been estimated using standard catastrophic and impoverishment measures (poverty headcount and poverty gap) and Poisson, logit and Tobit multivariate regression models. For empirical analysis, data is exploited from the recent round of Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS-II), 2012.

Results

We find that around 27% of households engaged in the informal sector spends more than 5% threshold on their health payment. We also find that OOP health expenditure pushes 7.12% informal sector households in poverty. Moreover, we also find that the impoverishment effect mainly rests on outpatient health expenditure and poverty deepening for informal sector households.

Conclusion

Our findings indicate that informal sector workers are highly vulnerable to health shocks and economic burden in terms of high treatment costs and low insurance coverage. Further, we also show that workers engaged in the informal sector witness greater probability of incurring CHE and impoverishment. Results from the Tobit model suggests that various factors such as insurance coverage, severity of illness and others are crucial predictor of catastrophic spending.

     

Indian community health insurance schemes provide partial protection against catastrophic health expenditure

Background  

More than 72% of health expenditure in India is financed by individual households at the time of illness through out-of-pocket payments. This is a highly regressive way of financing health care and sometimes leads to impoverishment. Health insurance is recommended as a measure to protect households from such catastrophic health expenditure (CHE). We studied two Indian community health insurance (CHI) schemes, ACCORD and SEWA, to determine whether insured households are protected from CHE.     

Evaluation of computerized health management information system for primary health care in rural India

Background  

The Comprehensive Rural Health Services Project Ballabgarh, run by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi has a computerized Health Management Information System (HMIS) since 1988. The HMIS at Ballabgarh has undergone evolution and is currently in its third version which uses generic and open source software. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a computerized Health Management Information System in rural health system in India.     

Utilisation,contents and costs of prenatal care under a rural health insurance (New Co-operative Medical System) in rural China: lessons from implementation

Background  

In China, the New Co-operative Medical System (NCMS), a rural health insurance system, has expanded nationwide since 2003. This study aims to describe prenatal care use, content and costs of care in one county where prenatal care is included in the NCMS and two counties where it is not. It also explores the perceptions of stakeholders of the prenatal care benefit package in order to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the approach in the context of rural China and to draw lessons from early implementation.     

A participatory intervention to improve the mental health of widows of injecting drug users in north-east India as a strategy for HIV prevention

Background  

Manipur and Nagaland, in the north-east of India, are classified as high prevalence states for HIV, and intravenous drug use is an important route of transmission. Most injecting drug users (IDUs) are men, an estimated 40% are married, and death rates have been high in the last five years, consequently the number of widows of IDUs has increased. Many of these widows and their children are HIV-infected and experience poor health, discrimination, and impoverishment; all factors likely to be compromising their mental health. People with poor mental health are more likely to engage in HIV risk behaviours. Mental health can be promoted by public health actions with vulnerable population groups.     

Social class related inequalities in household health expenditure and economic burden: evidence from Kerala, south India

Background  

In the Indian context, a household's caste characteristics are most relevant for identifying its poverty and vulnerability status. Inadequate provision of public health care, the near-absence of health insurance and increasing dependence on the private health sector have impoverished the poor and the marginalised, especially the scheduled tribe population. This study examines caste-based inequalities in households' out-of-pocket health expenditure in the south Indian state of Kerala and provides evidence on the consequent financial burden inflicted upon households in different caste groups.     

Assessing household wealth in health studies in developing countries: a comparison of participatory wealth ranking and survey techniques from rural South Africa

Background  

Accurate tools for assessing household wealth are essential for many health studies in developing countries. Household survey and participatory wealth ranking (PWR) are two approaches to generate data for this purpose.     

Community and household socioeconomic factors associated with pesticide-using,small farm household members' health: a multi-level,longitudinal analysis

Background  

Longitudinal studies using multi-level models to examine health inequalities in lower and middle income countries (LMICs) are rare. We explored socio-economic gradients in health among small farm members participating in a pesticide-related health and agriculture program in highland Ecuador.     

How do medical students value health on the EQ-5D? Evaluation of hypothetical health states compared to the general population

Background  

Medical students gain a particular perspective on health problems during their medical education. This article describes how medical students value 10 hypothetical health states using the EQ-5D compared to the general population.     

Economic burden,impoverishment and coping mechanisms associated with out-of-pocket health expenditure: analysis of rural-urban differentials in India

Aim

This article aimed to study the burden, impact and coping mechanisms associated with out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenditure in rural and urban areas in India.

Methods

National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data on ‘Health and Morbidity’ gathered in 2004 and 2014 were employed to measure the catastrophic burden, impoverishment impact and various coping strategies associated with out-of-pocket health in India.

Results

Results revealed that over the study period, considerable rural-urban differentials existed in the economic burden and impact of out-of-pocket health expenditure. As a coping strategy, borrowing and other distress sources were used in higher proportions by the rural population than their urban counterparts. Overall, our results demonstrated an alarming situation regarding health care financing in India.

Conclusion

Substantial investment in public health is needed, especially in rural areas as it is here that people are facing the real brunt of catastrophic OOP health expenditures in the form of impoverishment with more dependence on distress sources including borrowing and sale of assets as coping mechanisms.

     

Study protocol: Evaluating the impact of a rural Australian primary health care service on rural health

Background  

Rural communities throughout Australia are experiencing demographic ageing, increasing burden of chronic diseases, and de-population. Many are struggling to maintain viable health care services due to lack of infrastructure and workforce shortages. Hence, they face significant health disadvantages compared with urban regions. Primary health care yields the best health outcomes in situations characterised by limited resources. However, few rigorous longitudinal evaluations have been conducted to systematise them; assess their transferability; or assess sustainability amidst dynamic health policy environments. This paper describes the study protocol of a comprehensive longitudinal evaluation of a successful primary health care service in a small rural Australian community to assess its performance, sustainability, and responsiveness to changing community needs and health system requirements.     

Self-rated health in rural Appalachia: health perceptions are incongruent with health status and health behaviors

Background  

Appalachia is characterized by poor health behaviors, poor health status, and health disparities. Recent interventions have not demonstrated much success in improving health status or reducing health disparities in the Appalachian region. Since one's perception of personal health precedes his or her health behaviors, the purpose of this project was to evaluate the self-rated health of Appalachian adults in relation to objective health status and current health behaviors.     

Evaluation of maternal and child health services in El-Minia City, Egypt

Background  

Primary health-care centers provide outpatient health care and primary preventive activities for people in general and for mothers and children in particular. Medical care aims not only to improve health status, but also to respond to patients’ needs and wishes and to ensure their satisfaction with care. The patient-clinician relationship is a central feature of primary care.     

High prevalence of household pesticides and their unsafe use in rural South India

Objective

To estimate the prevalence of usage, unsafe practices and risk perception regarding household pesticides in a rural community of Tamil Nadu, India.

Materials and Methods

In a cross-sectional survey we used a pre-tested questionnaire and trained interviewers to collect information on household pesticide use for the past 6 months from any adult member of randomly selected households.

Results

Out of 143 households, 95% used at least one household pesticide (95% CI: 93.5–99.5) and 94% used at least one household pesticide specifically for mosquito control. The most commonly used pesticides were mosquito coils (75%), mosquito liquid vaporizers (36%), ant-killing powder (24%) and moth/naphthalene balls (18%). The major non-chemical methods of pest control were rat traps (12%) and mosquito bed nets (7.5%). Out of the mosquito coil users, 61% kept the windows and doors closed while the coil was burning. Out of the moth ball users, 88% left them in the place of use till they fully vaporized. Nearly half of the users did not know that household pesticides were harmful to their health and the health of their children.

Conclusions

The use of household pesticides was highly prevalent in this rural community. The prevalence of unsafe practices while handling them was also high. We recommend that the users of household pesticides be educated about the health hazards and about safe practices and non-chemical methods of pest control be promoted.