Journal ArticleDOI
What are the economic consequences for households of illness and of paying for health care in low- and middle-income country contexts?
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TLDR
A critical review of studies carried out in low- and middle-income countries focusing on the economic consequences for households of illness and health care use highlights that health care financing strategies that place considerable emphasis on out-of-pocket payments can impoverish households.About:
This article is published in Social Science & Medicine.The article was published on 2006-02-01. It has received 739 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Health care & Public health.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Poverty and access to health care in developing countries.
TL;DR: This article documents disparities in access to health services in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs), using a framework incorporating quality, geographic accessibility, availability, financial accessibility, and acceptability of services.
Journal ArticleDOI
Coping with out-of-pocket health payments: empirical evidence from 15 African countries
Adam Leive,Ke Xu +1 more
TL;DR: In most African countries, the health financing system is too weak to protect households from health shocks and formal prepayment schemes could benefit many households, and an overall social protection network could help to mitigate the long-term effects of ill health on household well-being and support poverty reduction.
Journal ArticleDOI
Access as a policy-relevant concept in low- and middle-income countries
TL;DR: A conceptual framework that defines access to health care as the empowerment of an individual to use health care and as a multidimensional concept based on the interaction (or degree of fit) between health care systems and individuals, households, and communities is presented.
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To retain or remove user fees?: reflections on the current debate in low- and middle-income countries.
Chris James,Kara Hanson,Barbara McPake,Dina Balabanova,Davidson R. Gwatkin,Ian Hopwood,Christina Kirunga,Rudolph Knippenberg,Bruno Meessen,Saul S. Morris,Alexander S. Preker,Yves Souteyrand,Abdelmajid Tibouti,Abdelmajid Tibouti,Pascal Villeneuve,Ke Xu +15 more
TL;DR: Reflections on the recent user fees debate are provided, drawing from the evidence presented and subsequent discussions at a recent UNICEF consultation on user fees in the health sector, and relates the debate to the wider issue of access to adequate healthcare.
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Removing user fees for primary care in Africa: the need for careful action
Lucy Gilson,Di McIntyre +1 more
TL;DR: Why African countries should move away from user fees, and what actions should accompany their removal to ensure that this policy change strengthens rather than undermines healthcare provision are outlined.
References
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Editorial Introduction: Vulnerability, Coping and Policy
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that vulnerability, more than poverty, is linked with net assets, and that the tradeoffs between poverty and vulnerability are not, one for one, the same as programmes and policies to reduce poverty to raise incomes.
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The economic burden of illness for households in developing countries: a review of studies focusing on malaria, tuberculosis, and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
TL;DR: It is found that in resource-poor settings illness imposed high and regressive cost burdens on patients and their families, highlighting the urgent need for a substantial increase in health sector investment to expand access to preventive and curative health services.
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Equity and health sector reforms: can low-income countries escape the medical poverty trap?
TL;DR: Two of these trends—the introduction of user fees for public services, and the growth of out-of-pocket expenses for private services—can, if combined, constitute a major poverty trap.
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Reduction of catastrophic health care expenditures by a community-based health insurance scheme in Gujarat, India: current experiences and challenges
TL;DR: Assessment of the Self Employed Women's Association's Medical Insurance Fund in Gujarat in terms of insurance coverage according to income groups, protection of claimants from costs of hospitalization, time between discharge and reimbursement, and frequency of use has implications for community-based health insurance schemes in India and elsewhere.
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Household strategies to cope with the economic costs of illness
TL;DR: The authors develop the concept of risk households and suggest several policies with the potential to strengthen the ability of households to cope with the economic costs of illness.