This paper investigates the effect of health-related expenditure on household welfare in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo, all of which have undertaken major health sector reform. Two methodologies are used: (i) the incidence and intensity of " catastrophic" health care expenditure, and (ii) the effect of out-of-pocket payments on poverty headcount and poverty gap measures. Data are drawn from the most recent Living Standards and Measurement Surveys, 2000-05. While our analyses are not without their limitations, and the lack of comparability across instruments precludes a direct comparison across countries, there is no doubt that health expenditure contributes substantially to the impoverishment of households - increasing the incidence of poverty and pushing poor households into deeper poverty - in each country. Both the catastrophic and the impoverishing effects of health expenditures are particularly severe in Albania and Kosovo. Transportation expenditure accounts for a large share of total health expenditures, especially in Albania and Serbia. Informal payments are substantial in all countries, and are particularly high in Albania. As countries in the sub-region continue the process of health system reform, an important policy question should be how to protect vulnerable groups from the catastrophic and impoverishing effects of health care expenditure. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2010; all rights reserved.

Mendola, M., Bredenkamp, C., Gragnolati, M. (2011). Catastrophic and impoverishing effects of health expenditure: new evidence from the Western Balkans. HEALTH POLICY AND PLANNING, 26(4), 349-356 [10.1093/heapol/czq070].

Catastrophic and impoverishing effects of health expenditure: new evidence from the Western Balkans

MENDOLA, MARIA PIA;
2011

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of health-related expenditure on household welfare in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo, all of which have undertaken major health sector reform. Two methodologies are used: (i) the incidence and intensity of " catastrophic" health care expenditure, and (ii) the effect of out-of-pocket payments on poverty headcount and poverty gap measures. Data are drawn from the most recent Living Standards and Measurement Surveys, 2000-05. While our analyses are not without their limitations, and the lack of comparability across instruments precludes a direct comparison across countries, there is no doubt that health expenditure contributes substantially to the impoverishment of households - increasing the incidence of poverty and pushing poor households into deeper poverty - in each country. Both the catastrophic and the impoverishing effects of health expenditures are particularly severe in Albania and Kosovo. Transportation expenditure accounts for a large share of total health expenditures, especially in Albania and Serbia. Informal payments are substantial in all countries, and are particularly high in Albania. As countries in the sub-region continue the process of health system reform, an important policy question should be how to protect vulnerable groups from the catastrophic and impoverishing effects of health care expenditure. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2010; all rights reserved.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Health, Poverty, Western Balkans
English
2011
26
4
349
356
none
Mendola, M., Bredenkamp, C., Gragnolati, M. (2011). Catastrophic and impoverishing effects of health expenditure: new evidence from the Western Balkans. HEALTH POLICY AND PLANNING, 26(4), 349-356 [10.1093/heapol/czq070].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/53333
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