The Economic Cost of Barriers to Health Care Access: A Cross-Sectional Study in India

Abstract

The assessment of barriers to health care access helps to form equitable health policy and programs for all. This article examines the institutional and noninstitutional barriers to health care access in India. The study uses the 75th round National Sample Survey (NSS) of consumption on health (2017-2018). Both institutional and noninstitutional barriers are analysed through descriptive analysis to explore some of the major barriers to health care access. A regression analysis is also conducted to arrive at the mean cost of such barriers. The result shows that ‘unsatisfactory service quality’ and a ‘lack of preferred doctors/hospitals’ are two major institutional barriers, and the ‘ignorance of illness’ is the major noninstitutional barrier to health care access. The result further shows that the ‘unavailability of required services’ incurs the highest mean cost of INR₹998, followed by the ‘unsatisfactory service quality’ (₹392) and a ‘lack of preferred doctor/hospital’ (₹201). The cost of private health care also varies across socioeconomic determinants such as place of residence, age, gender, caste, and class.