The effect of Philhealth coverage and utilization on individual out-of-pocket spending
Date
2010-10
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Abstract
Health has been an immediate concern as countries try to maximize their overall productivity through promoting individual welfare. The recent years have seen the rise of health insurance as a means to address such concern, as well as the rapidly increasing health expenditures. This paper examines the effect of social health insurance (SHI) system in the Philippines, more commonly known as PhilHealth, on out-of-pocket spending. Using data from the Quality Improvement Demonstration Study (QIDS), the study applies econometric methods to determine the relationship between the variables of interest. Results suggest that people who are covered by PhilHealth have a lower degree of out-of-pocket spending compared to the uninsured. Furthermore, among the PhilHealth insured, higher out-of-pocket spending is incurred by those who used their insurance compared to those who did otherwise. Albeit the data has been tested empirically and results appear significant, different approaches to the study are still suggested.
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Keywords
Health industry, Healthcare, Philhealth coverage, Personal spending, Healthcare industry