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...

The present chapter addresses some issues on survey design and sample design for household budget surveys. The focus is on surveys in developing countries. Problems of measuring consumption and income are discussed in some detail in section B. Section C contains a discussion on some crucial sample design issues, for example, stratification, and sample allocation in space (geographical) and in t...

This paper presents empirical data on household expenditure on domestic fuel and power in New South Wales. Consumer behaviour relating to class, family life-cycle and demographics was examined. Our findings indicate distinct variations across household type, size and income, and both the age and sex of the reference person of the household. Ethnicity was not found to be a significant factor. Th...

Expanding competition in all aspects of telecommunications supply makes it increasingly difficult to maintain cross-subsidies in the supply of local telecommunications services. A large cross-subsidy flows from long-distance telephone service to local exchange service. Approximately 45 cents of every dollar spent on a long-distance call is paid to the local exchange providers at both ends of th...

This study assessed the extent of household catastrophic expenditure in dental health care and its possible determinants in 41 low and middle income countries. Data from 182,007 respondents aged 18 years and over (69,315 in 18 low income countries, 59,645 in 15 lower middle income countries and 53,047 in 8 upper middle income countries) who participated in the WHO World Health Survey (WHS) were...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of the Chiranjeevi Yojana programme, a public-private partnership to improve maternal and neonatal health in Gujarat, India. METHODS A household survey (n = 5597 households) was conducted in Gujarat to collect retrospective data on births within the preceding 5 years. In an observational study using a difference-in-differences design, the relationship between ...

Background Provincial Health Accounts (PHA) as a subset of National Health Accounts (NHA) present financial information for health sectors. It leads to a logical decision making for policy-makers in order to achieve health system goals, especially Fair Financial Contribution (FFC). This study aimed to examine Health Accounts in Kerman Province.   Methods The present analytical study was carried...

BACKGROUND The main goal of this study is to examine the associations between illness conditions and out-of-pocket medical expenditure with other types of household consumptions. In November and December of 2011, a survey was conducted in three cities in western China, namely Lan Zhou, Gui Lin and Xi An, and their surrounding rural areas. RESULTS Information on demographics, income and consum...

BACKGROUND A growing number of developing countries are developing health insurance schemes that aim to protect households, particularly the poor, from financial catastrophe and impoverishment caused by unaffordable medical care. This paper investigates the extent to which patients suffering from chronic disease in rural China face catastrophic expenditure on healthcare, and how far the New Co-...