Gender Difference in Health-Care Expenditure: Evidence from India Human Development Survey.

While the gender disparity in health and mortality in various stages of life in India is well documented, there is limited evidence on female disadvantage in health-care expenditure (HCE).Examine the gender difference in HCE in short-term and major morbidity in India, and understand the role of fact...

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Main Authors: Nandita Saikia, Moradhvaj, Jayanta Kumar Bora
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4938214?pdf=render
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author Nandita Saikia
Moradhvaj
Jayanta Kumar Bora
author_facet Nandita Saikia
Moradhvaj
Jayanta Kumar Bora
author_sort Nandita Saikia
collection DOAJ
description While the gender disparity in health and mortality in various stages of life in India is well documented, there is limited evidence on female disadvantage in health-care expenditure (HCE).Examine the gender difference in HCE in short-term and major morbidity in India, and understand the role of factors underlying the difference.Using two rounds of nationally representative panel data-the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) 2004-2005 and 2011-2012 (IHDS I & II)-we calculate morbidity prevalence rate and mean HCE by gender, and examine the adjusted effect of gender on major morbidity-related HCE by using a two-part regression model. Further, we performed Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of the gender gap in HCE in major morbidity to understand the contribution of demographic and socio-economic factors.Health-care expenditure on females was systematically lower than on males across all demographic and socio-economic groups. Multivariate analysis confirms that female HCE is significantly lower than male HCE even after controlling demographic and socio-economic factors (β = -0.148, p = 0.000, CI:-0.206-0.091). For both short-term and major morbidity, a female disadvantage on HCE increased from IHDS I to IHDS II. For instance, the male-female gap in major morbidity related expenditure increased from INR 1298 to INR 4172. A decomposition analysis of gender gap in HCE demonstrates that about 48% of the gap is attributable to differences in demographic and socio-economic factors (endowment effect), whereas 50% of the gap is due to the differential effect of the determinants (coefficient effect).Indians spend less on female health care than on male health care. Most of the gender gap in HCE is not due to differential distribution of factors affecting HCE.
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spelling doaj.art-4a7f2cc9fe8f4c35b0476658821333c42022-12-21T22:48:55ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-01117e015833210.1371/journal.pone.0158332Gender Difference in Health-Care Expenditure: Evidence from India Human Development Survey.Nandita SaikiaMoradhvajJayanta Kumar BoraWhile the gender disparity in health and mortality in various stages of life in India is well documented, there is limited evidence on female disadvantage in health-care expenditure (HCE).Examine the gender difference in HCE in short-term and major morbidity in India, and understand the role of factors underlying the difference.Using two rounds of nationally representative panel data-the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) 2004-2005 and 2011-2012 (IHDS I & II)-we calculate morbidity prevalence rate and mean HCE by gender, and examine the adjusted effect of gender on major morbidity-related HCE by using a two-part regression model. Further, we performed Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of the gender gap in HCE in major morbidity to understand the contribution of demographic and socio-economic factors.Health-care expenditure on females was systematically lower than on males across all demographic and socio-economic groups. Multivariate analysis confirms that female HCE is significantly lower than male HCE even after controlling demographic and socio-economic factors (β = -0.148, p = 0.000, CI:-0.206-0.091). For both short-term and major morbidity, a female disadvantage on HCE increased from IHDS I to IHDS II. For instance, the male-female gap in major morbidity related expenditure increased from INR 1298 to INR 4172. A decomposition analysis of gender gap in HCE demonstrates that about 48% of the gap is attributable to differences in demographic and socio-economic factors (endowment effect), whereas 50% of the gap is due to the differential effect of the determinants (coefficient effect).Indians spend less on female health care than on male health care. Most of the gender gap in HCE is not due to differential distribution of factors affecting HCE.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4938214?pdf=render
spellingShingle Nandita Saikia
Moradhvaj
Jayanta Kumar Bora
Gender Difference in Health-Care Expenditure: Evidence from India Human Development Survey.
PLoS ONE
title Gender Difference in Health-Care Expenditure: Evidence from India Human Development Survey.
title_full Gender Difference in Health-Care Expenditure: Evidence from India Human Development Survey.
title_fullStr Gender Difference in Health-Care Expenditure: Evidence from India Human Development Survey.
title_full_unstemmed Gender Difference in Health-Care Expenditure: Evidence from India Human Development Survey.
title_short Gender Difference in Health-Care Expenditure: Evidence from India Human Development Survey.
title_sort gender difference in health care expenditure evidence from india human development survey
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4938214?pdf=render
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AT jayantakumarbora genderdifferenceinhealthcareexpenditureevidencefromindiahumandevelopmentsurvey