Covid 19 has exposed gaps in the budgetary allocations of the subnational governments in Indonesia that resulted in increase of out-pocket health expenditure and catastrophic household spending on health expenditure for health care services. A recent study by Health...
Strengthening health financing response in COVID-19
The COVID-19 war and commitment towards UHC hinge on the criticality of designing strategic health financing policies in India. The pandemic provides the window of opportunity to reflect on our health financing objectives to strengthen the health system resilience and...
Covid-related insurance claims could hit 3bn baht as cases continue to rise
Thai General Insurance Association (TGIA) said that the total amount of Covid-19 insurance premiums received as of May 15 stood at 3.5 billion baht from 9 million policies. This could lead total claims from Covid-19 insurance to soar to 3 billion baht this year...
Indonesia’s COVID-19 vaccine drive gets a shot in the arm with private sector plan
Private sector companies in Indonesia began inoculating employees against COVID-19 with a paid-for vaccine plan aimed at boosting productivity and accelerating the government’s free, nationwide vaccination drive. Registered private companies are allowed to...
Bangladesh Prime Minister assures adequate supply of Covid 19 vaccines irrespective of procurement costs
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina has assured that her government will procure COVID-19 vaccines at any cost, and has also allocated financial help for marginalized families. An amount of over 1,500 crore Bangladeshi Takas has been allocated to ease the sufferings of...
Bangladeshis’ woes deepen amid COVID 19 and lack of health coverage
Despite having one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, Bangladesh is lagging far behind in providing standard health care services to its over 166 million people, which is deepening their woes amid the coronavirus pandemic. Their budget for the health sector is...
Public and private sectors collective response to combat COVID-19 in Malaysia
The resurgence of COVID-19 cases has overwhelmed the public healthcare system and overloaded the healthcare resources. Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia has adopted an Emergency Ordinance (EO) to instruct private hospitals to receive both COVID-19 and...
No hospital charges for COVID-19 patients
National Health Security Office (NHSO) urges hospital operators not to charge COVID-19 patients for any health services. Thai government will reimburse the hospitals for any expense incurred. Both public and private hospital operators can process the claims with...
Purchasing reforms and tracking health resources, Kenya (December 2019)
As low- and middle-income countries undertake health financing reforms to achieve universal health coverage, there is renewed interest in making allocation of pooled funds to health-care providers more strategic. To make purchasing more strategic, countries are...
Ensuring equitable population coverage in the Philippines: Immediate eligibility to Philhealth benefits (2021)
People should be at the center of UHC, so population coverage should be prioritized, especially for the most disadvantaged groups. The Philippines’ UHC law mandates that all Filipinos be given immediate access to the country’s national health insurance benefits...
Health financing in the Philippines (2020)
ThinkWell’s Philippine UHC Law Series presents an overview of the country’s health system and the ongoing implementation of the UHC Law. This third brief in the series focuses on health financing in the Philippines, summarizes the current situation, identifies...
Certification of the primary care provider in the Philippines (September 2020)
The Philippine UHC Law aims to prioritize primary care, mandating that each citizen must be empaneled to a primary care provider within a health care provider network (HCPN). To ensure the quality of health care services, health professional training curricula will be...
An introduction to the Philippine universal health care law (2020)
The SP4PHC project is launching a series of briefs to describe health system reforms taking place under the UHC Law, emphasizing the impact these reforms have on health financing and PHC. The series will also include narratives from our field experience in Antique and...
Leveraging private sector primary care providers to increase access to family planning in the Philippines (September 2019)
The use of modern contraception in the Philippines is increasing steadily but is still very low compared to regional peers. Increased modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) is a key target of the Philippine government. Private providers, especially private...
The transforming health systems for universal care project in Kenya: A review (December 2020)
With support from the World Bank, the Global Financing Facility, and the Government of Japan, Kenya is implementing the Transforming Health Systems for Universal Care Project (THS-UCP) to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH)...