Behaviour of outpatient and inpatient toward health payment: the case of Mekong Delta (Vietnam)

Based on the survey of Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey (VHLSS) in 2018 and 2020, quantitative models are employed and derive that the usage of health insurance is significantly associated with out-of-pocket expenses charged for each visit to outpatient and inpatient services. People with voluntary insurance spend less on medical or hospital costs than people without health insurance. In addition, out-of-pocket expense of outpatient would increase by using inpatient services, but the opposite problem is not found. Overall, health insurance benefits by reducing the large out-of-pocket expenses of the poor people in the Mekong Delta. However, income is elastic with respect to out-of-pocket payments. People have higher incomes, they tend to use faster, more costly diagnostic services and also more expensive foreign drugs. The finding is a good reference for policymakers who should think of the improvement in the poor's health insurance with favourable insurance ranges.