Catastrophic and impoverishing effects of out-of-pocket payments for health care in Albania
Evidence from Albania Living Standards Measurement Surveys 2002, 2005 and 2008
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11490305 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sonila M Tomini (0000-0002-4241-2121, Maastricht University, corresponding author), Truman G Packard (World Bank), Florian Tomini (0000-0003-2220-5210, Maastricht University) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 419-428 |
| Publication date | 2013-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Health Policy and Planning (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0268-1080 • E-ISSN: 1460-2237 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/heapol/czs073 |
| PMID | 22907092 |
| OpenAlex | W2150321931 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 15 |
| References cited | 11 |
The absence of or poorly functioning risk pooling mechanisms and high amounts of out-of-pocket payments for health care expose households to financial risks associated with major illnesses or accidents. The aim of this article is to analyse the extent to which out-of-pocket health spending impoverishes households in Albania. The study augments existing evidence by analysing the dynamics of such payments over different years and the weight that informal payments have in the total out-of-pocket health spending. The data used in the study come from the Albania Living Standards Measurement Survey (ALSMS) for 2002, 2005 and 2008. We measure headcount catastrophic payments using different thresholds and the decomposition of indicators by expenditure quintiles to better understand their effects. We find that out-of-pocket and informal payments have increased in real value throughout the years. Even though their catastrophic effect has gone down (due also to declining trends in absolute poverty), the effect for the poorest expenditure quintiles remains high. Out-of-pocket payments deepen the poverty headcount and also enlarge the poverty gap and again the effect is larger for the poorest quintiles. Future policy interventions should provide better protection mechanisms for the poor by providing exemption criteria or subsidized transport. They should also seek to address the widespread informal payments in the country.
Business · Catastrophic illness · Direct Payments · Economic growth · Economics · Health care · Payment · Poverty · Psychological intervention · Public economics · Standard of living · Subsidy · Finance · Global Health Care Issues · Healthcare Policy and Management · Healthcare Systems and Reforms · Medicine
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| Unique citing works | 15 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2026 (11) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |