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Fulltext Health-financing reforms in southeast Asia: challenges in achieving universal coverage

Tangcharoensathien V, Patcharanarumol W, Ir P, Aljunid SM, Mukti AG, Akkhavong K, et al.

Lancet, 2011 Mar 5;377(9768):863-73.
PMID: 21269682 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61890-9

In this sixth paper of the Series, we review health-financing reforms in seven countries in southeast Asia that have sought to reduce dependence on out-of-pocket payments, increase pooled health finance, and expand service use as steps towards universal coverage. Laos and Cambodia, both resource-poor countries, have mostly relied on donor-supported health equity funds to reach the poor, and reliable funding and appropriate identification of the eligible poor are two major challenges for nationwide expansion. For Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, social health insurance financed by payroll tax is commonly used for formal sector employees (excluding Malaysia), with varying outcomes in terms of financial protection. Alternative payment methods have different implications for provider behaviour and financial protection. Two alternative approaches for financial protection of the non-poor outside the formal sector have emerged-contributory arrangements and tax-financed schemes-with different abilities to achieve high population coverage rapidly. Fiscal space and mobilisation of payroll contributions are both important in accelerating financial protection. Expanding coverage of good-quality services and ensuring adequate human resources are also important to achieve universal coverage. As health-financing reform is complex, institutional capacity to generate evidence and inform policy is essential and should be strengthened.

Matched MeSH terms: Insurance, Health/economics*
Fulltext Willingness to pay for voluntary community-based health insurance: findings from an exploratory study in the state of Penang, Malaysia

Shafie AA, Hassali MA

Soc Sci Med, 2013 Nov;96:272-6.
PMID: 23528670 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.02.045

Health care in Malaysia is funded primarily through taxation and is no longer sustainable. One funding option is voluntary community-based health insurance (VCHI), which provides insurance coverage for those who are unable to benefit immediately from either a social or private health insurance plan. This study is performed to assess the willingness of Malaysians to participate in a VCHI plan. A cross-sectional study was performed in the state of Penang between August and mid-September 2009 with 472 randomly selected respondents. The respondents were first asked to select their preferred health financing plan from three plans (out-of-pocket payment, compulsory social health insurance and VCHI). The extent of the household's willingness to pay for the described VCHI plan was later assessed using the contingent valuation method in an ex-ante bidding game approach until the maximum amount they would be willing to pay to obtain such a service was agreed upon. Fifty-four per cent of the participants were female, with a mean age of 34 years (SD = 11.9), the majority of whom had a monthly income of Int$1157-2312. The results indicated that more than 63.1% of the respondents were willing to join and contribute an average of Int$114.38 per month per household towards VCHI. This amount was influenced by ethnicity, educational level, household monthly income, the presence of chronic disease and the presence of private insurance coverage (p

Matched MeSH terms: Insurance, Health/economics*
Improving Health Care Coverage, Equity, And Financial Protection Through A Hybrid System: Malaysia's Experience

Rannan-Eliya RP, Anuranga C, Manual A, Sararaks S, Jailani AS, Hamid AJ, et al.

Health Aff (Millwood), 2016 May 01;35(5):838-46.
PMID: 27140990 DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0863

Malaysia has made substantial progress in providing access to health care for its citizens and has been more successful than many other countries that are better known as models of universal health coverage. Malaysia's health care coverage and outcomes are now approaching levels achieved by member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Malaysia's results are achieved through a mix of public services (funded by general revenues) and parallel private services (predominantly financed by out-of-pocket spending). We examined the distributional aspects of health financing and delivery and assessed financial protection in Malaysia's hybrid system. We found that this system has been effective for many decades in equalizing health care use and providing protection from financial risk, despite modest government spending. Our results also indicate that a high out-of-pocket share of total financing is not a consistent proxy for financial protection; greater attention is needed to the absolute level of out-of-pocket spending. Malaysia's hybrid health system presents continuing unresolved policy challenges, but the country's experience nonetheless provides lessons for other emerging economies that want to expand access to health care despite limited fiscal resources.

Matched MeSH terms: Insurance, Health/economics*
Incidence of tumours suitable for radiosurgery in a developing country like Malaysia: retrospective study done before the decision to start a radiosurgery programme

Abdullah J, Ridzuan MY

Stereotact Funct Neurosurg, 1997;69(1-4 Pt 2):152-5.
PMID: 9711749

This is a descriptive epidemiologic study that was done retrospectively for the years 1990-1996. The objective was to determine whether tumours less than 4 cm in diameter are common and thereafter suitable for radiosurgical treatment. The results showed that the incidence of brain tumours less than 4 cm in diameter was 73.3% and about 20% were situated in the eloquent area.

Matched MeSH terms: Insurance, Health/economics
Financial Toxicity After Cancer in a Setting With Universal Health Coverage: A Call for Urgent Action

Bhoo-Pathy N, Ng CW, Lim GC, Tamin NSI, Sullivan R, Bhoo-Pathy NT, et al.

J Oncol Pract, 2019 06;15(6):e537-e546.
PMID: 31112479 DOI: 10.1200/JOP.18.00619

BACKGROUND: Financial toxicity negatively affects the well-being of cancer survivors. We examined the incidence, cost drivers, and factors associated with financial toxicity after cancer in an upper-middle-income country with universal health coverage.
METHODS: Through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Costs in Oncology study, 1,294 newly diagnosed patients with cancer (Ministry of Health [MOH] hospitals [n = 577], a public university hospital [n = 642], private hospitals [n = 75]) were observed in Malaysia. Cost diaries and questionnaires were used to measure incidence of financial toxicity, encompassing financial catastrophe (FC; out-of-pocket costs ≥ 30% of annual household income), medical impoverishment (decrease in household income from above the national poverty line to below that line after subtraction of cancer-related costs), and economic hardship (inability to make necessary household payments). Predictors of financial toxicity were determined using multivariable analyses.
RESULTS: One fifth of patients had private health insurance. Incidence of FC at 1 year was 51% (MOH hospitals, 33%; public university hospital, 65%; private hospitals, 72%). Thirty-three percent of households were impoverished at 1 year. Economic hardship was reported by 47% of families. Risk of FC attributed to conventional medical care alone was 18% (MOH hospitals, 5%; public university hospital, 24%; private hospitals, 67%). Inclusion of expenditures on nonmedical goods and services inflated the risk of financial toxicity in public hospitals. Low-income status, type of hospital, and lack of health insurance were strong predictors of FC.
CONCLUSION: Patients with cancer may not be fully protected against financial hardships, even in settings with universal health coverage. Nonmedical costs also contribute as important drivers of financial toxicity in these settings.

Matched MeSH terms: Insurance, Health/economics