Are Free Government Health Services the Best Way to Reach to Poor?
The paper asks whether the pursuit of universal coverage by a wide range of free government services constitutes the most promising approach to meeting the needs of disadvantaged population groups. The response given to that question is probably no...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/09/5589349/free-government-health-services-best-way-reach-poor http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13720 |
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okr-10986-137202021-04-23T14:03:09Z Are Free Government Health Services the Best Way to Reach to Poor? Gwatkin, Davison R. CHILD HEALTH CHILD HEALTH SERVICES CLEAN WATER CLINICS COMMUNICABLE DISEASES DELIVERY MECHANISMS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC POLICIES EXPENDITURES FAMILIES HEALTH CARE HEALTH CARE COSTS HEALTH CARE EXPENDITURES HEALTH CARE FINANCING HEALTH EXPENDITURES HEALTH FACILITIES HEALTH FINANCING HEALTH INSURANCE HEALTH PROGRAMS HEALTH REFORM HEALTH SECTOR HEALTH SERVICE PROVISION HEALTH SERVICE USE HEALTH SERVICES HEALTH STATUS HEALTH SYSTEM HOSPITAL CARE HOSPITALIZATION HOUSEHOLDS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN RESOURCES IMMUNIZATION INCIDENCE ANALYSIS INCOME INFANT MORTALITY INTERVENTION LATIN AMERICAN LESSONS LEARNED MEDICAL CARE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MEDICAL TREATMENT NUTRITION POLICY RESEARCH POPULATION GROUPS PRIMARY CARE PRIVATE SECTOR PROMOTING HEALTH PUBLIC HEALTH PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES PUBLIC SECTOR RADIO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RURAL HEALTH RURAL HEALTH CARE SAFETY SAFETY NETS SECURITY SYSTEMS SERVICE DELIVERY The paper asks whether the pursuit of universal coverage by a wide range of free government services constitutes the most promising approach to meeting the needs of disadvantaged population groups. The response given to that question is probably not. The record to date points clearly to the danger that the benefits of subsidized government health services will flow primarily to the better-off, rather than to the poor for whom the services are intended. While there is no perfect approach to dealing with this issue, the record also points to several approaches that can significantly ameliorate the situation. Two of them, discussed in the paper, are the adoption of targeting measures to increase the proportion of benefits from government expenditures that flow to the poor; and the development of alternative, self-sustaining service financing and delivery mechanisms to serve the better-off. Successful implementation of approaches like these would allow governments to focus their efforts to achieve universal free coverage on a limited number of interventions that are particularly important for poor groups. 2013-05-30T19:33:24Z 2013-05-30T19:33:24Z 2004-09 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/09/5589349/free-government-health-services-best-way-reach-poor http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13720 English en_US Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) discussion paper; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Working Paper Publications & Research |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
CHILD HEALTH CHILD HEALTH SERVICES CLEAN WATER CLINICS COMMUNICABLE DISEASES DELIVERY MECHANISMS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC POLICIES EXPENDITURES FAMILIES HEALTH CARE HEALTH CARE COSTS HEALTH CARE EXPENDITURES HEALTH CARE FINANCING HEALTH EXPENDITURES HEALTH FACILITIES HEALTH FINANCING HEALTH INSURANCE HEALTH PROGRAMS HEALTH REFORM HEALTH SECTOR HEALTH SERVICE PROVISION HEALTH SERVICE USE HEALTH SERVICES HEALTH STATUS HEALTH SYSTEM HOSPITAL CARE HOSPITALIZATION HOUSEHOLDS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN RESOURCES IMMUNIZATION INCIDENCE ANALYSIS INCOME INFANT MORTALITY INTERVENTION LATIN AMERICAN LESSONS LEARNED MEDICAL CARE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MEDICAL TREATMENT NUTRITION POLICY RESEARCH POPULATION GROUPS PRIMARY CARE PRIVATE SECTOR PROMOTING HEALTH PUBLIC HEALTH PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES PUBLIC SECTOR RADIO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RURAL HEALTH RURAL HEALTH CARE SAFETY SAFETY NETS SECURITY SYSTEMS SERVICE DELIVERY |
| spellingShingle |
CHILD HEALTH CHILD HEALTH SERVICES CLEAN WATER CLINICS COMMUNICABLE DISEASES DELIVERY MECHANISMS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC POLICIES EXPENDITURES FAMILIES HEALTH CARE HEALTH CARE COSTS HEALTH CARE EXPENDITURES HEALTH CARE FINANCING HEALTH EXPENDITURES HEALTH FACILITIES HEALTH FINANCING HEALTH INSURANCE HEALTH PROGRAMS HEALTH REFORM HEALTH SECTOR HEALTH SERVICE PROVISION HEALTH SERVICE USE HEALTH SERVICES HEALTH STATUS HEALTH SYSTEM HOSPITAL CARE HOSPITALIZATION HOUSEHOLDS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN RESOURCES IMMUNIZATION INCIDENCE ANALYSIS INCOME INFANT MORTALITY INTERVENTION LATIN AMERICAN LESSONS LEARNED MEDICAL CARE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MEDICAL TREATMENT NUTRITION POLICY RESEARCH POPULATION GROUPS PRIMARY CARE PRIVATE SECTOR PROMOTING HEALTH PUBLIC HEALTH PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES PUBLIC SECTOR RADIO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RURAL HEALTH RURAL HEALTH CARE SAFETY SAFETY NETS SECURITY SYSTEMS SERVICE DELIVERY Gwatkin, Davison R. Are Free Government Health Services the Best Way to Reach to Poor? |
| relation |
Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP)
discussion paper; |
| description |
The paper asks whether the pursuit of
universal coverage by a wide range of free government
services constitutes the most promising approach to meeting
the needs of disadvantaged population groups. The response
given to that question is probably not. The record to date
points clearly to the danger that the benefits of subsidized
government health services will flow primarily to the
better-off, rather than to the poor for whom the services
are intended. While there is no perfect approach to dealing
with this issue, the record also points to several
approaches that can significantly ameliorate the situation.
Two of them, discussed in the paper, are the adoption of
targeting measures to increase the proportion of benefits
from government expenditures that flow to the poor; and the
development of alternative, self-sustaining service
financing and delivery mechanisms to serve the better-off.
Successful implementation of approaches like these would
allow governments to focus their efforts to achieve
universal free coverage on a limited number of interventions
that are particularly important for poor groups. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Working Paper |
| author |
Gwatkin, Davison R. |
| author_facet |
Gwatkin, Davison R. |
| author_sort |
Gwatkin, Davison R. |
| title |
Are Free Government Health Services the Best Way to Reach to Poor? |
| title_short |
Are Free Government Health Services the Best Way to Reach to Poor? |
| title_full |
Are Free Government Health Services the Best Way to Reach to Poor? |
| title_fullStr |
Are Free Government Health Services the Best Way to Reach to Poor? |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Are Free Government Health Services the Best Way to Reach to Poor? |
| title_sort |
are free government health services the best way to reach to poor? |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/09/5589349/free-government-health-services-best-way-reach-poor http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13720 |
| _version_ |
1764424215033806848 |