Objectives: Korea achieved universal population coverage through national health insurance in 1989. However, out-of-pocket payments (OOP) still accounted for 36% of total health expenditure in 2006. This paper aims to provide evidence for improving the benefit package through analyzing household financial burden. Methods: OOP and the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure were analysed us...

BACKGROUND Pharmaceutical expenditure is undergoing very high growth, and accounts for 30% of overall healthcare expenditure in Spain. In this paper we present a prediction model for primary health care pharmaceutical expenditure based on Clinical Risk Groups (CRG), a system that classifies individuals into mutually exclusive categories and assigns each person to a severity level if s/he has a ...

The ‘red herring’ hypothesis contends that the high health care expenditure in old age is caused by proximity to death rather than calendar age. Dissenters point to longitudinal data and claim that health care expenditure age profiles tend to steepen over time. The present paper tests the steepening claim for Swiss health insurance, covering the time period 1997 to 2006 and 25 cantons. It analy...

In this paper we analyze the degree of equity in access to the public health care system in the Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina). Through a quantitative retrospective study, we analyze the inequalities in the distribution of the total public health expenditure per capita. This variable is used as a proxy for the ability of the inhabitants of each jurisdiction to access health care services....

BACKGROUND Health policy makers have long been concerned with protecting people from the possibility that ill health will lead to catastrophic financial payments and subsequent impoverishment. Yet catastrophic expenditure is not rare. We investigated the extent of catastrophic health expenditure as a first step to developing appropriate policy responses. METHODS We used a cross-country analys...

BACKGROUND Leprosy is a major public health problem in many low and middle income countries, especially in India, and contributes considerably to the global burden of the disease. Leprosy and poverty are closely associated, and therefore the economic burden of leprosy is a concern. However, evidence on patient's expenditure is scarce. In this study, we estimate the expenditure in primary care (...

Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) is a term used for any expenditure for health that can pose as threat towards household’s financial capacity and capability in order to maintain its subsistence needs. The World Health Organization in 2005, proposed that health expenditure be viewed as catastrophic when it is equal or exceed 40% of a household’s non-subsistence income. Surveys done in 89 co...

précis this debate article highlights the challenges of health situation in iran and some influencing or relevant factors such as health sector, welfare system and social protection, social exclusion and civil society from the viewpoint of an international partner. some advanced experiences in iranian health system and the manner of system for international cooperation have also been discussed.