BACKGROUND Convincing evidence has not been obtained as to whether having a basic health examination in the prime of life inhibits the surge of health expenditure in old age. METHODS DATA SOURCES Data on participants in the basic health examination from 1996 to 2000 among residents of a remote island in Japan, and individual health care expenditure data from March 2005 to February 2008. ...

In their paper about progress towards universal health coverage in Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China, South Africa (BRICS),1 Rao et al. report that in India in 2011, of total government expenditure, about 8% was expended on health. This estimate was from the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) global health observatory data respository,2 which is based on national health accounts. Fo...

This research empirically analyzed the relationship between public health expenditure and national health outcomes among developed countries. The data was collected from 17 OECD countries between 1973 and 2000. Two public health outcome indicators, infant mortality rate and life expectancy at birth, were used as dependent variables. To analyze cross-country panel data, we used a mixed-effect mo...

In a life-cycle model, a retiree faces stochastic health depreciation and chooses consumption, health expenditure, and the allocation of wealth between bonds, stocks, and housing. The model explains key facts about asset allocation and health expenditure across health status and age. The portfolio share in stocks is low overall and is positively related to health, especially for younger retiree...

OBJECTIVES To document how out-of-pocket health expenditure can lead to debt in a poor rural area in Cambodia. METHODS After a dengue epidemic, 72 households with a dengue patient were interviewed to document health-seeking behaviour, out-of-pocket expenditure, and how they financed such expenditure. One year later, a follow-up visit investigated how the 26 households with an initial debt had...

BACKGROUND In order to raise African countries probability of achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by 2015, there is need to increase and more efficiently use domestic and external funding to strengthen health systems infrastructure in order to ensure universal access to quality health care. The objective of this paper is to examine the changes that have occurred in African...

BACKGROUND Developing countries have witnessed economic growth as their GDP keeps increasing steadily over the years. The growth led to higher energy consumption which eventually leads to increase in air pollutions that pose a danger to human health. People's healthcare demand, in turn, increase due to the changes in the socioeconomic life and improvement in the health technology. This study is...

Using data from 60 round of the National Sample Survey, this study attempts to measure the incidence and intensity of “catastrophic” maternal health care expenditure and examines its socio-economic correlates in urban and rural areas separately. Additionally, it measures the effect of maternal health care expenditure on poverty incidence and examines the factors associated with such impoverishm...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the evolution of catastrophic health expenditure and the inequalities in such expenses, according to the socioeconomic characteristics of Brazilian families. METHODS Data from the National Household Budget 2002-2003 (48,470 households) and 2008-2009 (55,970 households) were analyzed. Catastrophic health expenditure was defined as excess expenditure, considering different ...