Financial barriers can affect timely access to maternal health services. Health insurance can influence the use and quality of these services and potentially improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes. We conducted a systematic review of the evidence on health insurance and its effects on the use and provision of maternal health services and on maternal and neonatal health outcomes in middle...

BACKGROUND Countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are experiencing an epidemic of cardiovascular disease (CVD) propelled by rapidly increasing rates of hypertension. Barriers to hypertension control in SSA include poor access to care and high out-of-pocket costs. Although SSA bears 24% of the global disease burden, it has only 3% of the global health workforce. Given such limited resources, cost...

BACKGROUND Although the community health service system is now established in China, the utilisation of the community health service institutions is low due to the lack of a gate-keeping role of the primary health service providers and referrals among the three-tiered health service institutions. In addition to this, patients who can afford to pay, often seek best services in big hospitals to g...

This issue of the Journal features two papers, Community Rating of Health Insurance and Different Benefit Packages by Matthias Kifman and Alternative Health Insurance Schemes: A Welfare Comparison by Hansen and Keiding, that examine the welfare implications of permitting voluntary supplementary insurance in a regime with a community-rated, compulsory basic insurance package. This is a critical ...

BACKGROUND Patients with gaps in health insurance coverage often defer or forgo cancer prevention services. These delays in cancer detection and diagnoses lead to higher rates of morbidity and mortality and increased costs. Recent advances in health information technology (HIT) create new opportunities to enhance insurance support services that reduce coverage gaps through automated processes a...

BACKGROUND Pediatric immunization rates have increased in the United States since 1990. Nevertheless, national survey data indicate that up to one third of 2-year-old children in some states and urban areas lack at least one recommended dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP)-, polio-, or measles-containing vaccines. Immunization has become a key measure of preventive pediatric health care i...

This article assesses insurance uptake in three community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes located in rural parts of two of India's poorest states and offered through women's self-help groups (SHGs). We examine what drives uptake, the degree of inclusive practices of the schemes and the influence of health status on enrolment. The most important finding is that a household's socio-economic...

background health insurance has been acknowledged by researchers as a valuable tool in health financing. in spite of its significance, a subscription paralysis has been observed in india for this product. people who can afford health insurance are also found to be either ignorant or aversive towards it. this study is designed to investigate into the socio-economic factors, individuals’ health i...