Trends in out-of-pocket expenditure on facility-based delivery and financial protection of health insurance: findings from Vietnam ’s Household Living Standard Survey 2006–2018

AbstractMuch of the existing empirical literature on the association between health insurance and out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures on facility-based delivery in low- and middle-income countries is cross sectional in nature. Comparatively little is known about the dynamic shifts in OOP expenditures and the health insurance nexus. Using seven biennial waves of Vietnam ’s Household Living Standard Survey covering the period 2006–2018 and a generalized linear model this study examines trends in OOP expenditures on facility-based delivery and financial protection afforded by Vietnam’s social health insurance system. Over the period under consideration, the pat tern of health facility utilization among the insured shifted steadily from commune health centers towards higher-level government hospitals. Real OOP for delivery was 52.7% higher in 2018 than in 2006–2008 and insurance reduced OOP expenditures by 28.5%. Compared to district hospitals, giving bir th at higher-level government hospitals increased OOP expenditures by 72.3% while giving birth at commune health centers reduced OOP expenditures by 55.7%. Additional analysis involving interactions between insurance status, types of public health facility and year dummies suggested a drop in financ ial protection of insurance, from 48% to 26.9% among women delivering at district hospitals and from 31.2 to 18.7% among those delivering at higher-level government hospitals. The modest financial protection of health insurance ...
Source: International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics - Category: Health Management Source Type: research