Do Community-based Health Insurance Schemes Improve Poor People’s Access to Health Care? Evidence From Rural Senegal

2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes P. Jütting
Author(s):  
Zemzem Shigute ◽  
Anagaw D. Mebratie ◽  
Robert Sparrow ◽  
Getnet Alemu ◽  
Arjun S. Bedi

Ethiopia’s Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI) scheme was established with the objectives of enhancing access to health care, reducing out-of-pocket expenditure (OOP), mobilizing financial resources and enhancing the quality of health care. Previous analyses have shown that the scheme has enhanced health care access and led to reductions in OOP. This paper examines the impact of the scheme on health facility revenues and quality of care. This paper relies on a difference-in-differences approach applied to both panel and cross-section data. We find that CBHI-affiliated facilities experience a 111% increase in annual outpatient visits and annual revenues increase by 47%. Increased revenues are used to ameliorate drug shortages. These increases have translated into enhanced patient satisfaction. Patient satisfaction increased by 11 percentage points. Despite the increase in patient volume, there is no discernible increase in waiting time to see medical professionals. These results and the relatively high levels of CBHI enrollment suggest that the Ethiopian CBHI has been able to successfully negotiate the main stumbling block—that is, the poor quality of care—which has plagued similar CBHI schemes in Sub-Saharan Africa.


2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. bjgp20X711005
Author(s):  
Raza Naqvi ◽  
Octavia Gale

BackgroundPreventative medicine has become a central focus in primary care provision, with greater emphasis on education and access to health care screening. The Department of Health reports existing health inequalities and inequalities in access within ethnic minority groups. Studies assessing the value of community engagement in primary care have reported variable outcomes in term of subsequent service utilisation.AimTo consider the benefit of community-based health screening checks to improve access and health outcomes in minority ethnic groups.MethodAn open community health screening event (n = 43), to allow targeted screening within an ethnic minority population. Screening included BP, BMI, BM and cholesterol. Results were interpreted by a healthcare professional and counselling was provided regarding relevant risk factors. Post-event feedback was gathered to collate participant opinion and views.ResultsSeventy-nine per cent of participants were from ethnic minority backgrounds: 64% were overweight or obese and 53% of participants were referred to primary care for urgent review following abnormal findings. All those referred would not have accessed healthcare without the event referral. All (100%) participants believed it improved health education and access to health care.ConclusionThis study clearly demonstrates the value of targeted community-led screening and education events in public health promotion. There was a significant benefit in providing community-based screening. There is a need for a longitudinal analysis to determine the impact on health outcomes and long-term access to healthcare provision.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-130
Author(s):  
Lawal A ◽  
◽  
Gobir AA ◽  

Background: Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) scheme is aimed at reducing out of pocket spending on health care services, ensuring final risk protection to all, especially the poor and the most vulnerable, improvement of quality of health care services, access and utilization as well as the promotion of equity. Objective: This research was aimed at determining willingness to participate in a community-based health insurance scheme among rural households in Katsina State. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in December 2016 among households of Batagarawa LGA, Katsina State. We used a pre-tested, electronic, semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire to obtain data from households that were selected using a multistage sampling technique and we analyzed the data using STATA version 13. Results: Most, (28.5%) of the respondents were in the age range of 30-39 years with a mean age of 35.5 years. Males were the dominant household heads (93%). Most were married (90%). Most, (90.5%) of households were willing to pay for a community-based health insurance scheme with a median premium of 100 Naira per household member per month. Conclusions: The high proportion of households willing to pay for the scheme should inform the decision of policy makers to design and maintain Community Based Health Insurance Scheme to improve access to and utilization of quality health care services.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ufuoma John Ejughemre

Context: The knotty and monumental problem of health inequality and the high burden of diseases in sub-Saharan Africa bothers on the poor state of health of many of its citizens particularly in rural communities. These issues are further exacerbated by the harrowing conditions of health care delivery and the poor financing of health services in many of these communities. Against these backdrops, health policy makers in the region are not just concerned with improving peoples’ health but with protecting them against the financial costs of illness. What is important is the need to support more robust strategies for healthcare financing in these communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Objective: This review assesses the evidence of the extent to which community-based health insurance (CBHI) is a more viable option for health care financing amongst other health insurance schemes in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Patterns of health insurance in sub-Saharan Africa: Theoretically, the basis for health insurance is that it allows for risk pooling and therefore ensures that resources follow sick individuals to seek health care when needed. As it were, there are different models such as social, private and CBHI schemes which could come to bear in different settings in the region. However, not all insurance schemes will come to bear in rural settings in the region. Community based health insurance: CBHI is now recognized as a community-initiative that is community friendly and has a wide reach in the informal sector especially if well designed. Experience from Rwanda, parts of Nigeria and other settings in the region indicate high acceptability but the challenge is that these schemes are still very new in the region. Recommendations and conclusion: Governments and international development partners in the region should collect- ively develop CBHI as it will help in strengthening health systems and efforts geared towards achieving the millennium development goals. This is because it is inextricably linked to the health care needs of the poor. 


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.L. Minden ◽  
D. Frankel ◽  
L. Hadden ◽  
D.C. Hoaglin

The Sonya Slifka Longitudinal Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Study follows a population-based cohort of approximately 2000 people with MS to study demographic and clinical characteristics, use and cost of health services, provider and treatment characteristics, neurological, economic, and psychosocial outcomes. We examined key indicators of access to health care and found that the majority of participants had health insurance, a usual source of care, and access to specialty care. Nevertheless, 3.8% did not have health insurance which, with application of sampling weights, corresponds to approximately 7000 people with MS in the US population. Even with insurance, population-based estimates indicated that substantial numbers of people with MS have plans that pay nothing toward prescription medication, limit their access to specialists, and restrict their choice of hospitals and providers. Some 9% of the sample, corresponding to 15 800 people with MS, did not have a usual source of MS care; 11.8% or 17 300 people did not have a usual source of general health care; and 31% or 57 400 people did not see the specialists that they or their physicians wanted them to see. Further, 10.5% or 19 400 people reported difficulty obtaining prescription medication, 4.1% or 7600 people encountered obstacles accessing medical care, and 2.4% or 4500 people could not obtain the mental health services they needed. Finally, out-of-pocket health care expenditures were twice those found for the general population. Two-thirds of study participants (representing almost 70 000 people) chose their MS care providers because they were neurologists or MS specialists, creating a demand that almost certainly exceeds current supply. Multiple Sclerosis 2007; 13: 547-558. http://msj.sagepub.com


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