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The Willingness to Pay for Medical Care
Paul GertlerJ. van der Gaag
其他書名
Evidence from Two Developing Countries
出版World Bank, 1990
主題Business & Economics / Development / Economic DevelopmentBusiness & Economics / Industries / GeneralMedical / GeneralMedical / Health Care DeliveryMedical / Health PolicyPolitical Science / Public Policy / General
ISBN08018414619780801841460
URLhttp://books.google.com.hk/books?id=P-jaAAAAMAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
註釋The rising cost of health care presses hard on developing and industrial countries alike. The burden is heavier in the developing world, however, because resources are scarcer, people tend to be in poorer health, and health services are less advanced and more inequitably distributed. This book documents these problems by analyzing data from the Living Standards Measurement Surveys in Cote d'Ivoire and Peru. Although improving health care strengthens a country's human resources, governments have been reluctant to improve health services because of high costs. One way of recovering these costs is to introduce or increase user fees - that is, to let patients pay a greater share of the cost of health care. But how does price affect the demand for health care? What are people willing to pay for medical treatment? By analyzing the level of health care chosen in rural communities in Cote d'Ivoire and Peru, the authors conclude that demand is price sensitive and that children and the poor are hurt more by the introduction of user fees than is the population in general. To raise revenue and protect the poor simultaneously governments need to protect vulnerable groups from the adverse effects of user fees. The authors suggest that policymakers introduce modest fees, maintain greater subsidies for poorer communities and for lower levels of health care, and carefully evaluate how fees affect decisions of individuals about whether and where to seek medical care.