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Equity of health care financing in Iran

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  • Hajizadeh, Mohammad
  • Connelly, Luke B.

Abstract

This study presents the rst analyses of the equity of health care financing in Iran. Kakwani Progressivity Indices (KPIs) and concentration indices (CIs) are estimated using ten national household expenditure surveys, which were conducted in Iran from 1995/96 to 2004/05. The indices are used to analyze the progressivity of two sources of health care financing: health insurance premium payments and consumer co-payments (and the sum of these), for Iran as a whole, and for rural and urban areas of Iran, separately. The results suggest that health insurance premium payments became more progressive over the study period; however the KPIs for consumer co-payments suggest that these are still mildly regressive or slightly progressive, depending upon whether household income or expenditure data are used to generate the indices. Interestingly, the Urban Inpatient Insurance Scheme (UIIS), which was introduced by the Iranian government in 2000 to extend insurance to uninsured urban dwellers, appears to have had a regressive impact on health care nancing, which is contrary to expectations. This result sounds a cautionary note about the potential for public programs to crowd out private sector, charitable activity, which was prevalent in Iran prior to the introduction of the UIIS.

Suggested Citation

  • Hajizadeh, Mohammad & Connelly, Luke B., 2009. "Equity of health care financing in Iran," MPRA Paper 14672, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:14672
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wagstaff, Adam & van Doorslaer, Eddy & Paci, Pierella, 1989. "Equity in the Finance and Delivery of Health Care: Some Tentative Cross-country Comparisons," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 5(1), pages 89-112, Spring.
    2. Lairson, David R. & Hindson, Paul & Hauquitz, Alan, 1995. "Equity of health care in Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 475-482, August.
    3. Wagstaff, Adam & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 1992. "Equity in the finance of health care: Some international comparisons," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 361-387, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Aurelio Mejía, 2013. "Is tax funding of health care more likely to be regressive than systems based on social insurance in low- and middle-income countries?," Publicaciones 15615, Grupo de Economía de la Salud.
    2. Amir Fazaeli & Mohmmad Hadian & Aziz Rezapour & Ali Fazaeli, 2016. "Assessing the Distribution of Household Financial Contribution to Health System: A Case Study of Iran," Global Journal of Health Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(10), pages 233-233, October.
    3. Mejía Mejía, Aurelio, 2013. "Is tax funding of health care more likely to be regressive than systems based on social insurance in low and middle-income countries?," Revista Lecturas de Economía, Universidad de Antioquia, CIE, issue 78, pages 229-239, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Equity; Health care nancing; Kakwani progressivity index; Iran;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • P43 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Finance; Public Finance
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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