Despite the operationalisation of the national health insurance scheme in 2005, high reliance on OOP health payments as a means of financing health system in Nigeria persists. OOP health payments can generate catastrophic expenditures leading to household...
Willingness to pay for national health insurance fund (NHIF) among public servants in Juba City, South Sudan
The NHIF is the proposed health insurance scheme for South Sudan and aims at achieving universal health coverage. One challenging compounding issue however, is that over the years, governments’ spending on healthcare has been decreasing from 8.4% of national budget...
Policy implications of implementing health financing reforms in Botswana: a qualitative study
In low -income countries, health systems face a multitude of competing priorities amidst limited resources and Botswana is no exception. To ensure sustainable health financing, the expansion of health insurance coverage offers promise for many health systems in low...
Perspectives on financing population-based health care towards universal health coverage (UHC) among employed individuals in Ghanzi district, Botswana
Although health care in Botswana is highly subsidized and mainly financed through government taxes (68 %), 4.2% of the households still pay out of pocket exposing them to the risk of catastrophic health expenditures. In Botswana, 83% of the general population and 58%...
An assessment of financial catastrophe and impoverishment from out-of-pocket (OOP) health care payments in Swaziland
Financial health protection is one of the priority areas in the move towards universal health coverage (UHC) (WHO, 2010). As the drive towards UHC is gaining momentum globally, the need for assessing levels of financial health protection in countries, particularity...
Is universal health coverage (UHC) via social health insurance financially feasible in Swaziland?
Most African countries have committed to attaining (UHC, with millions of households struggling with high out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures for health services. Generally speaking, tax-based health financing and social health insurance (SHI) are among the domestic...
Who pays for and who benefits from health care services in Uganda?
Equity in health care entails payment for health services according to the capacity to pay and the receipt of benefits according to need. It is an essential element of universal health coverage. In Uganda, as in many African countries, although equity is extolled in...
Feasibility and desirability of scaling up community–based health insurance (CBHI) in rural communities in Uganda: lessons from Kisiizi Hospital CBHI scheme
CBHI schemes have been implemented world over to contribute to initial steps for national health insurance schemes, and universal health coverage. CBHI schemes aim to reduce out-of-pocket payments, and improve access to healthcare services in addition to raising...
Inpatient care costs of COVID-19 in South Africa’s public healthcare system
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a devastating impact globally, with severe health and economic consequences including increased disperaties in health inequalities. This has the potential to frustrate governments efforts towards universal health coverage. To...
Universal health coverage financing in South Africa: wishes vs reality
In 2011, the South African health minister, proposed a national health insurance (NHI) for South Africa with the aim to deliver universal health access and care to all South African residential citizens, with a single fund to cover all people, no matter their income....
The incidence of health financing in South Africa
There is an international call for countries to ensure universal health coverage. This call has been embraced in South Africa in the form of a National Health Insurance (NHI). Other forms of health financing in South Africa include general tax revenue, direct...
Paying for and receiving benefits from health services in South Africa: is the health system equitable?
This research paper examines the equity in the delivery and financing of health care for both the public and the private sectors in South Africa. Using nationally representative datasets and standard methodologies for assessing progressivity in health care financing...
Catastrophic health expenditures arising from out-of-pocket payments: Evidence from South African income and expenditure surveys
Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) represents out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for health care which exceed a specified threshold of household’s income or household’s capacity to pay. This peer reviewed article examines CHE and the potential for such payments to...
Experiences and perceptions of barriers to health services for elderly in rural Namibia
The attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) requires that no one must be left behind and that all people regardless of their social economic and demographic characteristics have access to quality healthcare. Therefore UHC means that elderly rural populations...
Social health insurance contributes to universal coverage in South Africa, but generates inequities: survey among members of a government employee insurance scheme
Many low- and middle-income countries are reforming their health financing mechanisms as part of broader strategies to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). Voluntary social health insurance, despite evidence of resulting inequities, is attractive to policy makers...