BACKGROUND  Despite the growing chronic disease burden in low- and middle-income countries, there are significant gaps in our understanding of the financial impact of these illnesses on households. As countries make progress towards universal health coverage, specific information is needed about how chronic disease care drives health expenditure over time, and how this spending differs from spe...

BACKGROUND During recent decades, increase in both health care expenditures and improvement of the awareness as well as health expectations have created some problems with regard to finance healthcare expenditures so that the issue of health financing by households has been determined as a major challenge in health sector. According to the definition by the World Health Organization, catastroph...

INTRODUCTION Many low and middle-income countries rely on out-of-pocket payments to help finance health care. These payments can pose financial hardships for households; valid measurement of this type of economic burden is therefore critical. This study examines the validity of five survey measures of economic burden caused by health care payments. METHODS We analyzed 2002/03 World Health Sur...

Out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses for hospitalized patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) poses an economic challenge on affected household in the form of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE), distress financing and impoverishment. OOP Expenses data CLD from Bangladesh is scarce. This study aimed to estimate resulting CHE, impoverishment among CLD. cross-sectional was conducted conveniently sele...

Abstract Background Over the years, Kyrgyz Republic has implemented health reforms that target financing with aim of removing financial barriers to healthcare including out-of-pocket payments (OOPPs). This study examines trends in OOPPs, and incidence catastrophic expenditure (CHE) post “Manas Taalimi” “Den Sooluk” reforms. Methods We used data from Kyrgyzstan Integrated Household Surveys (2012...

BACKGROUND One common challenge to social systems is achieving equity in financial contributions and preventing financial loss. Because of the large and unpredictable nature of some costs, achieving this goal in the health system presents important and unique problems. The present study investigated the Household Financial Contributions (HFCs) to the health system. METHODS The study investiga...

BACKGROUND Health policy makers are concerned about protecting people from catastrophic health expenditures and subsequent impoverishment. This study aimed to describe the magnitude and distribution of catastrophic health expenditures in Kermanshah western Iran. METHODS In this descriptive study, during May 2008, 189 households were chosen by "Systematic Random sampling" among the community ...

BACKGROUND Out-of-pocket expenditure to pay for health services could result in financial catastrophe. The purpose of this study was to identify the incidence and determinants of catastrophic out-of-pocket payments for healthcare in Colombia. The underlying hypotheses are that low-income and non-insured population in Colombia, and households living in isolated and high level of rurality regions...