Differences in the private cost of health care between providers and satisfaction with services: results for sub-Saharan African countries

Tsimpo, Clarence and Wodon, Quentin (2012): Differences in the private cost of health care between providers and satisfaction with services: results for sub-Saharan African countries.

Abstract

The issue of whether faith-inspired providers are able to reach the poor depends in part on the cost of the health services provided. This paper relies on recent nationally representative household surveys for sub-Saharan African countries to assess to what extent the cost of healthcare is a major reason for not being satisfied with health services and whether concerns with costs differ between types of providers. The paper also provides estimates of the cost of healthcare in a half dozen countries, again comparing public, private secular, and faith-inspired providers. The results suggest that cost indeed remains a major concern for households. There are differences in out-of-pocket costs for households between providers, with in many cases public providers being cheaper than faith-inspired providers and private secular providers. Yet these differences depend on the country and are not as large as one might have assumed.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Health; Faith; Cost; Africa; Satisfaction; Christian Health Associations
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I11 - Analysis of Health Care Markets; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I14 - Health and Inequality; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I15 - Health and Economic Development

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