Voluntary health insurance

Question 1

Kutzin 2013

Answer 1

16% of South African population are insured with VHI and 40% of total health spending benefits this group.
Total expenditure is 4.5-6 times higher in VHI group compared with publicly funded health services which is a distribution which is unlikely to reflect need.

Question 2

Thompson et al 2020.

Answer 2

Countries with higher levels of public spending have lower out-of-pocket costs for healthcare compared to those relying on private insurance.

Question 3

Stabile 2001

Answer 3

VHI in Canada - regressive tax funded subsidies of VHI. Governement offered tax exemptions to enrollees of employer VHI schemes.

Question 4

Woolhandler and Himmelstein 2017.

Answer 4

Health disparities with VHI.
US - study found that citizens without health insurance were at an increased risk of mortality compared to those who are insured after adjusting for socioeconomic and health factors.

Question 5

Mathauer and Nicolle. 2011

Answer 5

Low technical efficiency due to high administrative costs.

Question 6

Kamarulzaman et al. 2022

Answer 6

Brain drain in low-income countries

Question 7

Thompson et al. 2011

Answer 7

Studies show that financial protection associated with VHI has declined due to reduced coverage of health services.