Catastrophic and Impoverishing Effects of Health Expenditure : New Evidence from the Western Balkans

This paper investigates the effect of health-related expenditure on household welfare in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo, all of which have undertaken major health sector reform. Two methodologies are used: (i) the incidence and intensity of 'catastrophic' he...

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Main Authors: Bredenkamp, C., Mendola, M., Gragnolati, M.
Format: Journal Article
Language:EN
Published: 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5063
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spelling okr-10986-50632021-04-23T14:02:20Z Catastrophic and Impoverishing Effects of Health Expenditure : New Evidence from the Western Balkans Bredenkamp, C. Mendola, M. Gragnolati, M. This paper investigates the effect of health-related expenditure on household welfare in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo, all of which have undertaken major health sector reform. Two methodologies are used: (i) the incidence and intensity of 'catastrophic' health care expenditure, and (ii) the effect of out-of-pocket payments on poverty headcount and poverty gap measures. Data are drawn from the most recent Living Standards and Measurement Surveys, 2000-05. While our analyses are not without their limitations, and the lack of comparability across instruments precludes a direct comparison across countries, there is no doubt that health expenditure contributes substantially to the impoverishment of households-increasing the incidence of poverty and pushing poor households into deeper poverty-in each country. Both the catastrophic and the impoverishing effects of health expenditures are particularly severe in Albania and Kosovo. Transportation expenditure accounts for a large share of total health expenditures, especially in Albania and Serbia. Informal payments are substantial in all countries, and are particularly high in Albania. As countries in the sub-region continue the process of health system reform, an important policy question should be how to protect vulnerable groups from the catastrophic and impoverishing effects of health care expenditure. 2012-03-30T07:31:05Z 2012-03-30T07:31:05Z 2011 Journal Article Health Policy Plan 1460-2237 (Electronic) 0268-1080 (Linking) http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5063 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro Serbia Kosovo
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language EN
geographic_facet Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Montenegro
Serbia
Kosovo
relation http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description This paper investigates the effect of health-related expenditure on household welfare in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo, all of which have undertaken major health sector reform. Two methodologies are used: (i) the incidence and intensity of 'catastrophic' health care expenditure, and (ii) the effect of out-of-pocket payments on poverty headcount and poverty gap measures. Data are drawn from the most recent Living Standards and Measurement Surveys, 2000-05. While our analyses are not without their limitations, and the lack of comparability across instruments precludes a direct comparison across countries, there is no doubt that health expenditure contributes substantially to the impoverishment of households-increasing the incidence of poverty and pushing poor households into deeper poverty-in each country. Both the catastrophic and the impoverishing effects of health expenditures are particularly severe in Albania and Kosovo. Transportation expenditure accounts for a large share of total health expenditures, especially in Albania and Serbia. Informal payments are substantial in all countries, and are particularly high in Albania. As countries in the sub-region continue the process of health system reform, an important policy question should be how to protect vulnerable groups from the catastrophic and impoverishing effects of health care expenditure.
format Journal Article
author Bredenkamp, C.
Mendola, M.
Gragnolati, M.
spellingShingle Bredenkamp, C.
Mendola, M.
Gragnolati, M.
Catastrophic and Impoverishing Effects of Health Expenditure : New Evidence from the Western Balkans
author_facet Bredenkamp, C.
Mendola, M.
Gragnolati, M.
author_sort Bredenkamp, C.
title Catastrophic and Impoverishing Effects of Health Expenditure : New Evidence from the Western Balkans
title_short Catastrophic and Impoverishing Effects of Health Expenditure : New Evidence from the Western Balkans
title_full Catastrophic and Impoverishing Effects of Health Expenditure : New Evidence from the Western Balkans
title_fullStr Catastrophic and Impoverishing Effects of Health Expenditure : New Evidence from the Western Balkans
title_full_unstemmed Catastrophic and Impoverishing Effects of Health Expenditure : New Evidence from the Western Balkans
title_sort catastrophic and impoverishing effects of health expenditure : new evidence from the western balkans
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5063
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