Equity of health-care financing: a progressivity analysis for Egypt
Purpose – This paper aims to evaluate the progressivity of health-care financing in Egypt by assessing all five financing sources individually and then combining them to analyze the equity of the whole financing system. Design/methodology/approach – Lorenz dominance analysis and Kakwani progressivit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Emerald Publishing
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JHASS-08-2019-0040/full/pdf?title=equity-of-health-care-financing-a-progressivity-analysis-for-egypt |
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| author | Yara Ahmed Racha Ramadan Mohamed Fathi Sakr |
| author_facet | Yara Ahmed Racha Ramadan Mohamed Fathi Sakr |
| author_sort | Yara Ahmed |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Purpose – This paper aims to evaluate the progressivity of health-care financing in Egypt by assessing all five financing sources individually and then combining them to analyze the equity of the whole financing system. Design/methodology/approach – Lorenz dominance analysis and Kakwani progressivity index were applied on data from 2010/2011 Household Income, Expenditure, and Consumption Survey and the National Health Accounts 2011 using Stata to evaluate the progressivity of each source of health-care finance and the financing system overall. Findings – The data show that Egypt’s health-care system, which is largely financed by out-of-pocket (OOP) payments, is slightly regressive, with an overall Kakwani index of −0.079. The overall regressive effect was the result of three regressive sources (OOP payments, an earmarked cigarette tax and direct taxes), one proportional finance source (social health insurance) and two slightly progressive sources (indirect taxes and private health insurance). This shows that the burden of financing health care falls more on the poor. These results signal the need for reform of health-care financing in Egypt to reduce dependence on OOP payments to achieve more equitable financing. Originality/value – The paper seeks to augment the literature on health-care financing in Egypt by calculating specific progressivity estimates for all five sources of financing the Egyptian health-care system and analyzing the overall equity of this financing system. It will, therefore, provide a benchmark for monitoring the equity of finance in the Egyptian health-care system in future studies and allow one to assess the impact of implemented financing reforms in the future on the level of progressivity of health system financing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:53:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-18072c7e8e2945e1b523184829845826 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2632-279X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:53:39Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | Emerald Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-18072c7e8e2945e1b5231848298458262022-12-22T03:20:24ZengEmerald PublishingJournal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences2632-279X2020-03-013132410.1108/JHASS-08-2019-0040642125Equity of health-care financing: a progressivity analysis for EgyptYara Ahmed0Racha Ramadan1Mohamed Fathi Sakr2Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, Giza, EgyptDepartment of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, Giza, EgyptDepartment of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, Giza, EgyptPurpose – This paper aims to evaluate the progressivity of health-care financing in Egypt by assessing all five financing sources individually and then combining them to analyze the equity of the whole financing system. Design/methodology/approach – Lorenz dominance analysis and Kakwani progressivity index were applied on data from 2010/2011 Household Income, Expenditure, and Consumption Survey and the National Health Accounts 2011 using Stata to evaluate the progressivity of each source of health-care finance and the financing system overall. Findings – The data show that Egypt’s health-care system, which is largely financed by out-of-pocket (OOP) payments, is slightly regressive, with an overall Kakwani index of −0.079. The overall regressive effect was the result of three regressive sources (OOP payments, an earmarked cigarette tax and direct taxes), one proportional finance source (social health insurance) and two slightly progressive sources (indirect taxes and private health insurance). This shows that the burden of financing health care falls more on the poor. These results signal the need for reform of health-care financing in Egypt to reduce dependence on OOP payments to achieve more equitable financing. Originality/value – The paper seeks to augment the literature on health-care financing in Egypt by calculating specific progressivity estimates for all five sources of financing the Egyptian health-care system and analyzing the overall equity of this financing system. It will, therefore, provide a benchmark for monitoring the equity of finance in the Egyptian health-care system in future studies and allow one to assess the impact of implemented financing reforms in the future on the level of progressivity of health system financing.https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JHASS-08-2019-0040/full/pdf?title=equity-of-health-care-financing-a-progressivity-analysis-for-egyptequityegypt health-care finance incidencehealth-care system financingprogressivity analysish51i180d63d31h22i19 |
| spellingShingle | Yara Ahmed Racha Ramadan Mohamed Fathi Sakr Equity of health-care financing: a progressivity analysis for Egypt Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences equity egypt health-care finance incidence health-care system financing progressivity analysis h51 i180 d63 d31 h22 i19 |
| title | Equity of health-care financing: a progressivity analysis for Egypt |
| title_full | Equity of health-care financing: a progressivity analysis for Egypt |
| title_fullStr | Equity of health-care financing: a progressivity analysis for Egypt |
| title_full_unstemmed | Equity of health-care financing: a progressivity analysis for Egypt |
| title_short | Equity of health-care financing: a progressivity analysis for Egypt |
| title_sort | equity of health care financing a progressivity analysis for egypt |
| topic | equity egypt health-care finance incidence health-care system financing progressivity analysis h51 i180 d63 d31 h22 i19 |
| url | https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JHASS-08-2019-0040/full/pdf?title=equity-of-health-care-financing-a-progressivity-analysis-for-egypt |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yaraahmed equityofhealthcarefinancingaprogressivityanalysisforegypt AT racharamadan equityofhealthcarefinancingaprogressivityanalysisforegypt AT mohamedfathisakr equityofhealthcarefinancingaprogressivityanalysisforegypt |