The results show that Peru’s Seguro Integral de Salud reduces out-of-pocket spending as ability to pay for the poorest, while Seguro Social de Salud does so for the non-poor. On the other hand, it is concluded that contracting Covid 19 increases out-of-pocket health care spending.
The objective of this study is to analyze the main factors that determine out-of-pocket health expenditure as ability to pay in Peru in the period 2016-2020, in order to provide inputs for the design of health policies that seek to reduce this expenditure. It is particularly interesting to assess the extent to which health insurance has contributed to its reduction. It also assesses how the Covid 19 pandemic has affected this out-of-pocket spending.
It is concluded that the Social Health Insurance (Essalud) also reduces out-of-pocket spending by almost as much as the Comprehensive Health Insurance (SIS) only in non-poor households.
It was also found that out-of-pocket health spending increases with the number of household members suffering from chronic diseases and a positive effect of having a household member sick with Covid 19 on out-of-pocket spending, which would reveal the insufficiency of SIS and Essalud insurance to avoid additional expenses for families with family members sick with this virus.
