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Probability and amount of medicines expenditure according to health insurance status in Kenya: A household survey in eight counties
Author(s) -
Wirtz Veronika J.,
ServanMori Edson,
Mungai John,
Mboya John,
Rockers Peter C.,
Onyango Monica A.,
Kiragu Zana Wangari,
Laing Richard
Publication year - 2022
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.3368
Subject(s) - health insurance , environmental health , national health insurance , access to medicines , business , medicine , health care , public health , population , economic growth , economics , nursing
Background National and county governments in Kenya have introduced various health insurance schemes to protect households against financial hardship as a result of large health expenditure. This study examines the relationship between health insurance and medicine expenditure in eight counties in Kenya. Methods A cross‐sectional study of collected primary data via household survey in eight counties was performed. Three measures of medicine expenditure were analysed: the probability of any out‐of‐pocket expenditure (OOPE) on medicines in the last 4 weeks; amount of OOPE on medicines; and OOPE on medicines as a proportion of total OOPE on health. Results Out of the 452 individuals, those with health insurance ( n = 225) were significantly different from individuals without health insurance ( n = 227): overall, they were older, had a higher level of educational attainment and possessed more assets. Adjusting for covariates, individuals with health insurance had a reduced probability of OOPE on medicines (0.40, CI95% 0.197–0.827) and spent proportionally less on medicines out of total health expenditure (0.50, CI95% 0.301–0.926). Conclusions Kenya has made great strides to scale up Universal Health Coverage including access to medicines. Prioritising enrollment of low‐income individuals with non‐communicable diseases can accelerate access to medicines and financial protection.