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The Distribution of Household Health Expenditures in Australia

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  • GLENN JONES
  • ELIZABETH SAVAGE
  • KEES VAN GOOL

Abstract

Out‐of‐pocket health expenditures in Australia are high in international comparisons and have been growing at a faster rate than most other health costs in recent years. This raises concerns about the extent to which out‐of‐pocket costs have constrained access to health services for low income households. Using data from the ABS Household Expenditure Survey 2003–2004, we model the relationships between health expenditure shares and equivalised total expenditure for categories of out‐of‐pocket health expenditures and analyse the extent of protection given by concession cards. To allow for flexibility in the relationship we adopt Yatchew's semi‐parametric estimation technique. This is the first detailed distributional analysis of household health expenditures in Australia. We find mixed evidence for the protection health concession cards give against high out‐of‐pocket health expenditures. Despite higher levels of subsidy, households with concession cards do not have lower out‐of‐pocket expenditures than non‐cardholder households except for the highest expenditure quintile. Cards provide most protection for GP out‐of‐pocket expenditures.

Suggested Citation

  • Glenn Jones & Elizabeth Savage & Kees Van Gool, 2008. "The Distribution of Household Health Expenditures in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 84(s1), pages 99-114, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:84:y:2008:i:s1:p:s99-s114
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2008.00487.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexandra Spicer & Olena Stavrunova & Susan Thorp, 2016. "How Portfolios Evolve after Retirement: Evidence from Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 92(297), pages 241-267, June.
    2. Alice Sanwald & Engelbert Theurl, 2015. "Out-of-pocket expenditures for pharmaceuticals: Lessons from the Austrian household budget survey," Working Papers 2015-01, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    3. Mohammad Hajizadeh & Luke Brian Connelly & James Robert Gerard Butler, 2014. "Health Policy and Equity of Health Care Financing in Australia: 1973–2010," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(2), pages 298-322, June.
    4. Alice Sanwald & Engelbert Theurl, 2017. "Out-of-pocket expenditures for pharmaceuticals: lessons from the Austrian household budget survey," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 18(4), pages 435-447, May.
    5. Alice sanwald & Engelbert Theurl, 2014. "What drives out-of pocket health expenditures of private households? - Empirical evidence from the Austrian household budget survey," Working Papers 2014-04, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    6. Alice Sanwald & Engelbert Theurl, 2014. "Out-of-pocket expenditures of private households for dental services - Empirical evidence from Austria," Working Papers 2014-30, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    7. Siwarat Kuson & Songsak Sriboonchitta & Peter Calkins, 2012. "Household determinants of poverty in Savannakhet, Laos: Binary choice model approach," The Empirical Econometrics and Quantitative Economics Letters, Faculty of Economics, Chiang Mai University, vol. 1(3), pages 33-52, September.
    8. Kees Van Gool & Elizabeth Savage & Rosalie Viney & Marion Haas & Rob Anderson, 2009. "Who's Getting Caught? An Analysis of the Australian Medicare Safety Net," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 42(2), pages 143-154, June.
    9. Chun Yee Wong & Jessica Greene & Xenia Dolja‐Gore & Kees van Gool, 2017. "The Rise and Fall in Out‐of‐Pocket Costs in Australia: An Analysis of the Strengthening Medicare Reforms," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(8), pages 962-979, August.
    10. Jackie Cumming & Steven Stillman & Michelle Poland, 2009. "Who Pays What for Primary Health Care? Patterns and Determinants of the Fees Paid by Patients in a Mixed Public-Private Financing Model," Working Papers 09_01, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.

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