The Impact of the Tariff Impasse Between Healthcare Providers and Funders on the Welfare of Healthcare Users

The norm has been that tariff negotiations between healthcare providers and funders are expected to eradicate the out of pocket expenditures burden on policyholders. However, this has not been the case for policyholders in Zimbabwe’s tertiary institutions. Cross-sectional data on randomly selected and interviewed healthcare users was used to examine the effects of the tariff impasse between healthcare providers and funders on healthcare users’ welfare. The study used a Flexible Heteroskedasticity Ordinary Least Squares (FHOLS) to determine the impact of out-of-pocket spending burden ratio on per capita consumption based on healthcare users who had visited a provider within three months before the survey. The study found that out-of-pocket expenses did not significantly affect the well-being of healthcare users. Education was found to have a positive impact on welfare, while premiums paid had a negative impact. Policies should be implemented to improve user welfare, including better access to healthcare services, financial assistance, and support for vulnerable populations. Policymakers are encouraged to enforce measures that make insurance premiums affordable and explore options for subsidizing premiums paid by users.