ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: Financing healthcare services through out-of-pocket payments is common in India. Household impoverishments due to health expenditure can be daunting, especially among the economically vulnerable households. This study investigated hospitalization and patient’s health expenditure in Odisha State in India. Methods: The national sample survey data were used to assess hospitalization and patient’s health expenditure over two time periods (1995 and 2014). Disease classification was made following International Classification of Diseases 10th revision (ICD-10). The hospitalization rate and health expenditure were estimated for infectious, cardiovascular, non-communicable, disability and other diseases. Andersen model was used to examine the determinants of healthcare expenditure. Results: Findings of the study revealed that hospitalization in Odisha increased nearly three folds and health expenditure by more than two times between 1995 to 2014. While the hospitalization for other diseases remained consistently higher, health expenditure for disability was the highest and it increased three times within the last two decades. The socio-economic and demographic divides in the hospitalization rate and health expenditure were evident. Interpretation & conclusions: Our analysis indicated that predisposing factors such as age and marital status played an important role in hospitalization whereas, enabling factors likely determined the health expenditure. There is a need to recognize the unique vulnerabilities of older population, widowed and health financial mechanism for disability-related illness.