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Economic burden, impoverishment, and coping mechanisms associated with out‐of‐pocket health expenditure in India: A disaggregated analysis at the state level
Author(s) -
Sangar Shivendra,
Dutt Varun,
Thakur Ramna
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the international journal of health planning and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1099-1751
pISSN - 0749-6753
DOI - 10.1002/hpm.2649
Subject(s) - poverty , health care , environmental health , consumption (sociology) , payment , social determinants of health , economics , business , public economics , economic growth , socioeconomics , medicine , finance , sociology , social science
Summary Introduction The high share of out‐of‐pocket (OOP) health expenditure imposes an extreme financial burden on households, and they have to incur a substantial amount of expenditure to avail health care services. This study analyses the inter‐state differentials in the economic burden of OOP health expenditure, resultant impoverishment impact, and sources of finance used as coping mechanisms. Materials and methods The study is based on health expenditure survey, namely the 71 st Round on “Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India: Health,” (2014) conducted in India by the National Sample Survey Organisation. The study uses headcount, payment gap, and concentration index to measure the economic burden, impoverishment impact of OOP health expenditure, and the level of inequality. Results On the basis of results, the states can be divided into four distinct categories: (1) States with low economic burden and low poverty impact of OOP health expenditure, (2) low economic burden and high poverty impact of OOP health expenditure, (3) high economic burden and low poverty impact of OOP health expenditure, and (4) high economic burden and high poverty impact of OOP health expenditure. Conclusions Inter‐state differentials in OOP health expenditure and impoverishment need proper attention of the government especially the policy makers.