IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rbs/ijbrss/v14y2025i3p398-417.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The relationship between practical lifestyles and cost escalation over members’ contribution to health insurance in Tanzania: The mediation of non-communicable diseases

Author

Listed:
  • Salum Kanyungu

    (Tanzania Institute of Accountancy (TIA)-Mwanza Campus)

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the correlation between health-risk behaviour patterns, health lifestyle practices, and self-monitoring and care, in connection to the increasing costs of health insurance premiums. The research utilised a cross-sectional design and applied Linear Regression via SPSS software to analyse data collected from 385 public servants and college students in Mwanza, constituting 68.84% of the NHIF membership share. The analysis reveals that hazardous behaviours, including Alcohol Consumption (AC), Tobacco Use (TU), and Exposure to Harmful Chemicals (ETHC), are directly correlated with an increase in insurance costs. Nonetheless, the use of painkillers is unwarrantedly associated with the development of non-communicable diseases. Healthy lifestyle practices, including the consumption of processed foods (PFC), adherence to a balanced diet (UBD), and participation in physical activity (PA), are positively correlated with the likelihood of acquiring non-communicable diseases (NCD). In the near term, patients undergoing regular medical checks (MCP) exhibited elevated medical expenses. Ultimately, they decreased long-term medical costs by mitigating the likelihood of an individual developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The study emphasises policy recommendations aimed at reducing the likelihood of non-communicable disease (NCD) development and enhancing the financial stability of health insurance schemes in Tanzania. These include the creation of media and electronic campaigns to inform both members and non-members about effective strategies to prevent NCDs, the establishment of incentive packages to encourage members to cease or abandon risky behaviours, the provision of discounted premium pricing, the offering of mental health counselling and therapy programs, and the development or acquisition of health-related applications to modify member behaviour. Key Words:Lifestyles, Cost Escalation, Members’ Contribution, Health Insurance, Non-Communicable Diseases

Suggested Citation

  • Salum Kanyungu, 2025. "The relationship between practical lifestyles and cost escalation over members’ contribution to health insurance in Tanzania: The mediation of non-communicable diseases," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 14(3), pages 398-417, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:rbs:ijbrss:v:14:y:2025:i:3:p:398-417
    DOI: 10.20525/ijrbs.v14i3.4051
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs/article/view/4051/2778
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v14i3.4051
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.20525/ijrbs.v14i3.4051?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rbs:ijbrss:v:14:y:2025:i:3:p:398-417. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Umit Hacioglu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ssbffea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.