Fiscal Space for Health in Bangladesh : Towards Universal Health Coverage

A strong health financing system will be an important priority as Bangladesh seeks to meet theexpectations of its population and embrace its future as a middle-income country. The objective of this report is to present policymakers with a foundatio...

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Main Author: World Bank Group
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/268141537541184327/Fiscal-space-for-health-in-Bangladesh-towards-universal-health-coverage
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30521
id okr-10986-30521
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-305212021-05-25T09:18:03Z Fiscal Space for Health in Bangladesh : Towards Universal Health Coverage World Bank Group HEALTH EXPENDITURE HEALTH SYSTEM FINANCING PUBLIC EXPENDITURE HEALTH SPENDING FISCAL TRENDS PRIORITIES DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE HEALTH INSURANCE EFFICIENCY ABSENTEEISM HOSPITALS A strong health financing system will be an important priority as Bangladesh seeks to meet theexpectations of its population and embrace its future as a middle-income country. The objective of this report is to present policymakers with a foundation for an informed discussionabout government health spending and future health financing options in Bangladesh. It analyzesalternative sources of additional health financing and their potential contribution to higher spending in the sector. The findings will be relevant to both the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and can inform a dialogue between the two Ministries as the government seeks a way forward.Fiscal space for health is a particularly important policy challenge for Bangladesh because it currently has one of the lowest levels of government health spending in the world.Fiscal space for health refers to the availability of budgetary room that would allow a government to increase health spending without jeopardizing the sustainability of its fiscal position. In general there are five potential sources of fiscal space: (1) economic growth which translates into more overall government revenues and, in turn, a larger health budget; (2) a reprioritization within the budget in favor of health, resulting in higher expenditures; (3) increased overseas development assistance (ODA) for health; (4) an increase in health-specific resources, such as earmarked taxation or insurance contributions; and (5) greater efficiency in the use of existing health budget resources such that additional resources become available for new spending.The report also presents illustrative scenarios to show the potential impact that these channels can have on fiscal space for health in Bangladesh going forward. In summary, financing health in Bangladesh over the short to medium term will require a combination of existing and additional domestic resources that result from economic growth, improved tax collection, and most significantly a moderate re-prioritization of the budget in favor of the health sector. A longer-term agenda will relate to the possibility of generating additional resources through individual contributions starting with the formal employed sector, if that is the path chosen. 2018-10-05T19:25:26Z 2018-10-05T19:25:26Z 2016-05 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/268141537541184327/Fiscal-space-for-health-in-Bangladesh-towards-universal-health-coverage http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30521 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work :: Other Health Study Economic & Sector Work South Asia Bangladesh
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic HEALTH EXPENDITURE
HEALTH SYSTEM FINANCING
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE
HEALTH SPENDING
FISCAL TRENDS
PRIORITIES
DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
HEALTH INSURANCE
EFFICIENCY
ABSENTEEISM
HOSPITALS
spellingShingle HEALTH EXPENDITURE
HEALTH SYSTEM FINANCING
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE
HEALTH SPENDING
FISCAL TRENDS
PRIORITIES
DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
HEALTH INSURANCE
EFFICIENCY
ABSENTEEISM
HOSPITALS
World Bank Group
Fiscal Space for Health in Bangladesh : Towards Universal Health Coverage
geographic_facet South Asia
Bangladesh
description A strong health financing system will be an important priority as Bangladesh seeks to meet theexpectations of its population and embrace its future as a middle-income country. The objective of this report is to present policymakers with a foundation for an informed discussionabout government health spending and future health financing options in Bangladesh. It analyzesalternative sources of additional health financing and their potential contribution to higher spending in the sector. The findings will be relevant to both the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and can inform a dialogue between the two Ministries as the government seeks a way forward.Fiscal space for health is a particularly important policy challenge for Bangladesh because it currently has one of the lowest levels of government health spending in the world.Fiscal space for health refers to the availability of budgetary room that would allow a government to increase health spending without jeopardizing the sustainability of its fiscal position. In general there are five potential sources of fiscal space: (1) economic growth which translates into more overall government revenues and, in turn, a larger health budget; (2) a reprioritization within the budget in favor of health, resulting in higher expenditures; (3) increased overseas development assistance (ODA) for health; (4) an increase in health-specific resources, such as earmarked taxation or insurance contributions; and (5) greater efficiency in the use of existing health budget resources such that additional resources become available for new spending.The report also presents illustrative scenarios to show the potential impact that these channels can have on fiscal space for health in Bangladesh going forward. In summary, financing health in Bangladesh over the short to medium term will require a combination of existing and additional domestic resources that result from economic growth, improved tax collection, and most significantly a moderate re-prioritization of the budget in favor of the health sector. A longer-term agenda will relate to the possibility of generating additional resources through individual contributions starting with the formal employed sector, if that is the path chosen.
format Report
author World Bank Group
author_facet World Bank Group
author_sort World Bank Group
title Fiscal Space for Health in Bangladesh : Towards Universal Health Coverage
title_short Fiscal Space for Health in Bangladesh : Towards Universal Health Coverage
title_full Fiscal Space for Health in Bangladesh : Towards Universal Health Coverage
title_fullStr Fiscal Space for Health in Bangladesh : Towards Universal Health Coverage
title_full_unstemmed Fiscal Space for Health in Bangladesh : Towards Universal Health Coverage
title_sort fiscal space for health in bangladesh : towards universal health coverage
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2018
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/268141537541184327/Fiscal-space-for-health-in-Bangladesh-towards-universal-health-coverage
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30521
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