RESUMEN
Background: Health insurance is a widely recognized and preferable mechanism to finance the health care expenditure of the individuals. It is an important mechanism in the modern world to save the individuals from the huge health shock but only a small percentage of people even from educated higher income groups are covered under any health insurance policy. This study was undertaken to know the pattern of health insurance utilization in Uttar Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka.Methods: A descriptive study was conducted among 550 household of Uttar Kannada and Udupi districts. Household were selected using multistage sampling technique.Results: Of the 550 study participants, 348 (63.27%) were aware and also subscribed for any type of the health insurance and of these only 89 (25.57%) utilized them. 190 (34.55%) had availed Rashtriya Swastya Bima Yojana, 42 (7.64%) for Yashasvini, 6 (1.09%) forESI, 12 (2.18%) for Sampoorna Suraksha and 15 (27.27%) had private insurances. Reasons for not availing health insurances other than being unaware were complicated process 85 (42.08%) and provides only partial coverage 49 (24.26%). The main reasons for not using the health insurance were non availability of empaneled hospital 84 (74.34%), disease not being under the scope of scheme 60 (23.17%) and 32 (12.36%) were unaware about the process of availing.Conclusions: Health insurances being are the best way to help people reduce their financial burden has to be made aware and the drawbacks have to be addressed.
RESUMEN
Background: Health insurance is an important mechanism in the modern world to save the individuals from the huge health shock, even then very high percentage of people even from educated higher income groups are not covered under any health insurance policy. This study was undertaken to know the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding health insurance.Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted among 550 household of Uttar Kannada and Udupi districts. Multistage sampling technique was used.Results: Of the 550 study participants, 384 (69.8%) were BPL card holders. 348 (63.27%) were aware and also subscribed for any type of the health insurance, 115 (20.91%) were aware but did not subscribe while 87 (15.82%) were not aware about it. The main source of information were health workers 185 (39.74%), friends and family 178 (38.44%) and media 99 (21.38%). Of the 348 who had health insurance, only 89 (25.57%) utilized them. Reasons for not availing health insurances other than being unaware were complicated process 85 (42.08%) and provides only partial coverage 49 (24.26%). The main reasons for not using the health insurance were non availability of empanelled hospital 84 (74.34%), disease not being under the scope of scheme 60 (23.17%) and 32 (12.36%) were unaware about the process of availing.Conclusions: Health insurances are the best way to help people reduce their financial burden. Hence it is very important to educate the community regarding the best health insurance available so that they can take the maximum benefits from
RESUMEN
Background: Health is one of the most important components of an effective poverty reduction strategy. However, use of health services is sometimes associated with out-of-pocket (OOP) payments. Urology disorders are often chronic and affect individuals not by shortening survival, but by impairing quality of life hence posing a substantial economic impact for patients. A well-planned health finance systems protects population against the financial risks of ill-health. This study addressed concerns over high levels of out-of-pocket payments even by those who have insurance coverage.Methods: Descriptive study was conducted among 160 patients admitted in Urology Department who are covered under various health schemes for the duration of 6 months.Results: Of the 160 study participants studied, 129 (80.62%) were males, 37 (23.13%), 64 (40%) were illiterates and most of the families 127 (79.38%) were from rural area. Various health schemes availed were, 120 (75%) Arogya Karnataka, 8 (11.25%) RBSY Kerala and 6 (3.75%) Sampoorna Suraksha. Expenses other than medical included home care assistance, adaptations to home and cost of parallel treatment. The main source for out of pocket expenditure was borrowing money from relatives or friends 70 (43.8%), self-finance 46 (28.7%) and selling valuables 28 (17.5%). Prevalence of catastrophic health expenditure in our study was 8.75%.Conclusions: The government should increase the public health spending to reduce the out of pocket expenditure by the families and the public must be educated about the availability of insurance scheme and their efficient/optimum utilization.