1. Who pays for health care in Asia?
- Author
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Kanjana Tisayaticom, Rachel H. Racelis, Shamsia Ibragimova, Aparnaa Somanathan, Charu C. Garg, Badri Raj Pande, Keith Y.K. Tin, Gabriel M. Leung, Baktygul Akkazieva, Soonman Kwon, Deni Harbianto, Ravi P. Rannan-Eliya, Anup Karan, Yuxin Zhao, Eddy van Doorslaer, Yasushi Ohkusa, Quan Wan, Mohammed N. Huq, Laksono Trisnantoro, Shiva Raj Adhikari, Owen O'Donnell, Jui-fen Rachel Lu, Bong-Min Yang, Piya Hanvoravongchai, Alejandro N. Herrin, Applied Economics, and Pathology
- Subjects
Financing, Personal ,Economic growth ,Asia ,Equity (economics) ,Direct tax ,business.industry ,Health Policy ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Payment ,Ability to pay ,Social insurance ,Socioeconomic Factors ,Health Care Surveys ,Development economics ,Health care ,Economics ,Asian population ,Humans ,Cost Sharing ,Health Expenditures ,business ,Delivery of Health Care ,Health care financing ,media_common - Abstract
We estimate the distributional incidence of health care financing in 13 Asian territories that account for 55% of the Asian population. In all territories, higher-income households contribute more to the financing of health care. The better-off contribute more as a proportion of ability to pay in most low- and lower-middle-income territories. Health care financing is slightly regressive in three high-income economies with universal social insurance. Direct taxation is the most progressive source of finance and is most so in poorer economies. In universal systems, social insurance is proportional to regressive. In high-income economies, the out-of-pocket (OOP) payments are proportional or regressive while in low-income economies the better-off spend relatively more OOP. But in most low-/middle-income countries, the better-off not only pay more, they also get more health care.
- Published
- 2008
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