This study undertook a focused literature review and employed a health financing framework to analyze benefit packages within government-sponsored schemes across seven Asian LMICs: Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Viet Nam.
Among these countries, only India has established a national essential diagnostics list. Notably, none of the countries provided a clear policy rationale for the inclusion of diagnostics in their schemes, and the specifics of covered diagnostics were generally lacking in detail.
While government-sponsored insurance has mitigated out-of-pocket health payment burdens for eligible populations, there remains a pervasive deficiency in access, availability, and affordability of diagnostic-related services.