A Study of Out-of-pocket Health Expenditures

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze health care expenditures in seven South Asian countries, namely, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The data are taken for 19 years from 1995 to 2013. We specifically examine the out-of-pocket health care expenditure in these countries. Per capita health expenditure differences have been compared. We also develop regression model for out-of-pocket expenditure with the factors affecting it, that is, per capita health expenditure, household final consumption expenditure and public health expenditure. Logarithm values of out-of-pocket expenditure have also been used to develop a separate log model for the same. The results suggest that Maldives has the highest per capita health expenditure, while out-of-pocket health expenditure as a percentage of total expenditure on health is the highest for India. The key determinant of out-of-pocket expenditures is the final household expenditures as the percentage of GDP.