Health insurance and child mortality in rural Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND: Micro health insurance schemes have been implemented across developing countries as a means of facilitating access to modern medical care, with the ultimate aim of improving health. This effect, however, has not been explored sufficiently. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effect of enrolment into community-based health insurance on mortality in children under 5 years of age in a health and demographic surveillance system in Nouna, Burkina Faso. DESIGN: We analysed the effect of health insurance enrolment on child mortality with a Cox regression model. We adjusted for variables that we found to be related to the enrolment in health insurance in a preceding analysis. RESULTS: Based on the analysis of 33,500 children, the risk of mortality was 46% lower in children enrolled in health insurance as compared to the non-enrolled children (HR=0.54, 95% CI 0.43-0.68) after adjustment for possible confounders. We identified socioeconomic status, father's education, distance to the health facility, year of birth, and insurance status of the mother at time of birth as the major determinants of health insurance enrolment. CONCLUSIONS: The strong effect of health insurance enrolment on child mortality may be explained by increased utilisation of health services by enrolled children; however, other non-observed factors cannot be excluded. Because malaria is a main cause of death in the study area, early consultation of health services in case of infection could prevent many deaths. Concerning the magnitude of the effect, implementation of health insurance could be a major driving factor of reduction in child mortality in the developing world.

Using a community-based definition of poverty for targeting poor households for premium subsidies in the context of a community health insurance in Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND: One of the biggest challenges in subsidizing premiums of poor households for community health insurance is the identification and selection of these households. Generally, poverty assessments in developing countries are based on monetary terms. The household is regarded as poor if its income or consumption is lower than a predefined poverty cut-off. These measures fail to recognize the multi-dimensional character of poverty, ignoring community members' perception and understanding of poverty, leaving them voiceless and powerless in the identification process. Realizing this, the steering committee of Nouna's health insurance devised a method to involve community members to better define 'perceived' poverty, using this as a key element for the poor selection. The community-identified poor were then used to effectively target premium subsidies for the insurance scheme. METHODS: The study was conducted in the Nouna's Health District located in northwest Burkina Faso. Participants in each village were selected to take part in focus-group discussions (FGD) organized in 41 villages and 7 sectors of Nouna's town to discuss criteria and perceptions of poverty. The discussions were audio recorded, transcribed and analyzed in French using the software NVivo 9. RESULTS: From the FGD on poverty and the subjective definitions and perceptions of the community members, we found that poverty was mainly seen as scarcity of basic needs, vulnerability, deprivation of capacities, powerlessness, voicelessness, indecent living conditions, and absence of social capital and community networks for support in times of need. Criteria and poverty groups as described by community members can be used to identify poor who can then be targeted for subsidies. CONCLUSION: Policies targeting the poorest require the establishment of effective selection strategies. These policies are well-conditioned by proper identification of the poor people. Community perceptions and criteria of poverty are grounded in reality, to better appreciate the issue. It is crucial to take these perceptions into account in undertaking community development actions which target the poor. For most community-based health insurance schemes with limited financial resources, using a community-based definition of poverty in the targeting of the poorest might be a less costly alternative.

Efficiency of antenatal care and childbirth services in selected primary health care facilities in rural Tanzania: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Cost studies are paramount for demonstrating how resources have been spent and identifying opportunities for more efficient use of resources. The main objective of this study was to assess the actual dimension and distribution of the costs of providing antenatal care (ANC) and childbirth services in selected rural primary health care facilities in Tanzania. In addition, the study analyzed determining factors of service provision efficiency in order to inform health policy and planning. METHODS: This was a retrospective quantitative cross-sectional study conducted in 11 health centers and dispensaries in Lindi and Mtwara rural districts. Cost analysis was carried out using step down cost accounting technique. Unit costs reflected efficiency of service provision. Multivariate regression analysis on the drivers of observed relative efficiency in service provision between the study facilities was conducted. Reported personnel workload was also described. RESULTS: The health facilities spent on average 7 USD per capita in 2009. As expected, fewer resources were spent for service provision at dispensaries than at health centers. Personnel costs contributed a high approximate 44% to total costs. ANC and childbirth consumed approximately 11% and 12% of total costs; and 8% and 10% of reported service provision time respectively. On average, unit costs were rather high, 16 USD per ANC visit and 79.4 USD per childbirth. The unit costs showed variation in relative efficiency in providing the services between the health facilities. The results showed that efficiency in ANC depended on the number of staff, structural quality of care, process quality of care and perceived quality of care. Population-staff ratio and structural quality of basic emergency obstetric care services highly influenced childbirth efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in the efficiency of service provision present an opportunity for efficiency improvement. Taking into consideration client heterogeneity, quality improvements are possible and necessary. This will stimulate utilization of ANC and childbirth services in resource-constrained health facilities. Efficiency analyses through simple techniques such as measurement of unit costs should be made standard in health care provision, health managers can then use the performance results to gauge progress and reward efficiency through performance based incentives.

Do community-based health insurance schemes fulfil the promise of equity? A study from Burkina Faso.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether the community-based health insurance (CBHI) scheme in Burkina Faso has been effective in providing equitable healthcare access to poor individuals, women, children and those living far from health facilities. METHODS: We used the Nouna Health District Household Survey to collect panel data on 990 households during 2004-08. By applying a series of random effects regressions and using concentration curves, we first studied determinants of CBHI enrolment and then assessed differences in healthcare utilization between members and non-members. We studied differences with regard to rich and poor, men and women, children and adults and those living far vs those living close to health facilities. FINDINGS: With regard to enrolment, we found that poor (odds ratio [OR] = 0.274) and children (OR = 0.456) were less likely to enrol while gender and distance were not significantly correlated to enrolment. In terms of utilization, poor (coefficient = 0.349), women (coefficient = 0.131) and children (coefficient = 0.190) with CBHI had higher utilization than the group without CBHI. We also found that there was no significant difference in utilization between members and non-members if they were living far from health facilities. CONCLUSION: The CBHI scheme in this case was only partially successful in achieving the equity objectives. This study advises policy makers in Burkina Faso and elsewhere, who see CBHI schemes as a silver bullet to achieve universal health coverage, to be mindful of the chronically low enrolment rates and more importantly the lack of equity across the various groups that this study has highlighted.

Cost of maternal health services in selected primary care centres in Ghana: a step down allocation approach.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of knowledge on the cost of health care services in Ghana. This poses a challenge in the economic evaluation of programmes and inhibits policy makers in making decisions about allocation of resources to improve health care. This study analysed the overall cost of providing health services in selected primary health centres and how much of the cost is attributed to the provision of antenatal and delivery services. METHODS: The study has a cross-sectional design and quantitative data was collected between July and December 2010. Twelve government run primary health centres in the Kassena-Nankana and Builsa districts of Ghana were randomly selected for the study. All health-care related costs for the year 2010 were collected from a public service provider's perspective. The step-down allocation approach recommended by World Health Organization was used for the analysis. RESULTS: The average annual cost of operating a health centre was $136,014 US. The mean costs attributable to ANC and delivery services were $23,063 US and $11,543 US respectively. Personnel accounted for the largest proportion of cost (45%). Overall, ANC (17%) and delivery (8%) were responsible for less than a quarter of the total cost of operating the health centres. By disaggregating the costs, the average recurrent cost was estimated at $127,475 US, representing 93.7% of the total cost. Even though maternal health services are free, utilization of these services at the health centres were low, particularly for delivery (49%), leading to high unit costs. The mean unit costs were $18 US for an ANC visit and $63 US for spontaneous delivery. CONCLUSION: The high unit costs reflect underutilization of the existing capacities of health centres and indicate the need to encourage patients to use health centres .The study provides useful information that could be used for cost effectiveness analyses of maternal and neonatal care interventions, as well as for policy makers to make appropriate decisions regarding the allocation and sustainability of health care resources.

Does enrollment status in community-based insurance lead to poorer quality of care? Evidence from Burkina Faso.

INTRODUCTION: In 2004, a community-based health insurance (CBI) scheme was introduced in Nouna health district, Burkina Faso, with the objective of improving financial access to high quality health services. We investigate the role of CBI enrollment in the quality of care provided at primary-care facilities in Nouna district, and measure differences in objective and perceived quality of care and patient satisfaction between enrolled and non-enrolled populations who visit the facilities. METHODS: We interviewed a systematic random sample of 398 patients after their visit to one of the thirteen primary-care facilities contracted with the scheme; 34% (n = 135) of the patients were currently enrolled in the CBI scheme. We assessed objective quality of care as consultation, diagnostic and counselling tasks performed by providers during outpatient visits, perceived quality of care as patient evaluations of the structures and processes of service delivery, and overall patient satisfaction. Two-sample t-tests were performed for group comparison and ordinal logistic regression (OLR) analysis was used to estimate the association between CBI enrollment and overall patient satisfaction. RESULTS: Objective quality of care evaluations show that CBI enrollees received substantially less comprehensive care for outpatient services than non-enrollees. In contrast, CBI enrollment was positively associated with overall patient satisfaction (aOR = 1.51, p = 0.014), controlling for potential confounders such as patient socio-economic status, illness symptoms, history of illness and characteristics of care received. CONCLUSIONS: CBI patients perceived better quality of care, while objectively receiving worse quality of care, compared to patients who were not enrolled in CBI. Systematic differences in quality of care expectations between CBI enrollees and non-enrollees may explain this finding. One factor influencing quality of care may be the type of provider payment used by the CBI scheme, which has been identified as a leading factor in reducing provider motivation to deliver high quality care to CBI enrollees in previous studies. Based on this study, it is unlikely that perceived quality of care and patient satisfaction explain the low CBI enrollment rates in this community.

Adverse selection in a community-based health insurance scheme in rural Africa: implications for introducing targeted subsidies.

BACKGROUND: Although most community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes are voluntary, problem of adverse selection is hardly studied. Evidence on the impact of targeted subsidies on adverse selection is completely missing. This paper investigates adverse selection in a CBHI scheme in Burkina Faso. First, we studied the change in adverse selection over a period of 4 years. Second, we studied the effect of targeted subsidies on adverse selection. METHODS: The study area, covering 41 villages and 1 town, was divided into 33 clusters and CBHI was randomly offered to these clusters during 2004-06. In 2007, premium subsidies were offered to the poor households. The data was collected by a household panel survey 2004-2007 from randomly selected households in these 33 clusters (n = 6795). We applied fixed effect models. RESULTS: We found weak evidence of adverse selection before the implementation of subsidies. Adverse selection significantly increased the next year and targeted subsidies largely explained this increase. CONCLUSIONS: Adverse selection is an important concern for any voluntary health insurance scheme. Targeted subsidies are often used as a tool to pursue the vision of universal coverage. At the same time targeted subsidies are also associated with increased adverse selection as found in this study. Therefore, it's essential that targeted subsidies for poor (or other high-risk groups) must be accompanied with a sound plan to bridge the financial gap due to adverse selection so that these schemes can continue to serve these populations.

Health worker preferences for community-based health insurance payment mechanisms: a discrete choice experiment.

BACKGROUND: In 2004, a community-based health insurance scheme (CBI) was introduced in Nouna health district, Burkina Faso. Since its inception, coverage has remained low and dropout rates high. One important reason for low coverage and high dropout is that health workers do not support the CBI scheme because they are dissatisfied with the provider payment mechanism of the CBI. METHODS: A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used to examine CBI provider payment attributes that influence health workers' stated preferences for payment mechanisms. The DCE was conducted among 176 health workers employed at one of the 34 primary care facilities or the district hospital in Nouna health district. Conditional logit models with main effects and interactions terms were used for analysis. RESULTS: Reimbursement of service fees (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.49, p < 0.001) and CBI contributions for medical supplies and equipment (aOR 1.47, p < 0.001) had the strongest effect on whether the health workers chose a given provider payment mechanism. The odds of selecting a payment mechanism decreased significantly if the mechanism included (i) results-based financing (RBF) payments made through the local health management team (instead of directly to the health workers (aOR 0.86, p < 0.001)) or (ii) RBF payments based on CBI coverage achieved in the health worker's facility relative to the coverage achieved at other facilities (instead of payments based on the numbers of individuals or households enrolled at the health worker's facility (aOR 0.86, p < 0.001)). CONCLUSIONS: Provider payment mechanisms can crucially determine CBI performance. Based on the results from this DCE, revised CBI payment mechanisms were introduced in Nouna health district in January 2011, taking into consideration health worker preferences on how they are paid.

Does community-based health insurance protect household assets? Evidence from rural Africa.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether community-based health insurance (CBHI) protects household assets in rural Burkina Faso, Africa. DATA SOURCES: Data were used from a household panel survey that collected primary data from randomly selected households, covering 41 villages and one town, during 2004-2007(n = 890). STUDY DESIGN: The study area was divided into 33 clusters and CBHI was randomly offered to these clusters during 2004-2006. We applied different strategies to control for selection bias-ordinary least squares with covariates, two-stage least squares with instrumental variable, and fixed-effects models. DATA COLLECTION: Household members were interviewed in their local language every year, and information was collected on demographic and socio-economic indicators including ownership of assets, and on self-reported morbidity. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Fixed-effects and ordinary least squares models showed that CBHI protected household assets during 2004-2007. The two-stage least squares with instrumental variable model showed that CBHI increased household assets during 2004-2005. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we found that CBHI has the potential to not only protect household assets but also increase household assets. However, similar studies from developing countries that evaluate the impact of health insurance on household economic indicators are needed to benchmark these results with other settings.

Econometric analysis to evaluate the effect of community-based health insurance on reducing informal self-care in Burkina Faso.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the role of community-based health insurance (CBHI) in influencing health-seeking behaviour in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Community-based health insurance was introduced in Nouna district, Burkina Faso, in 2004 with the goal to improve access to contracted providers based at primary- and secondary-level facilities. The paper specifically examines the effect of CBHI enrolment on reducing the prevalence of seeking modern and traditional methods of self-treatment as the first choice in care among the insured population. METHODS: Three stages of analysis were adopted to measure this effect. First, propensity score matching was used to minimize the observed baseline differences between the insured and uninsured populations. Second, through matching the average treatment effect on the treated, the effect of insurance enrolment on health-seeking behaviour was estimated. Finally, multinomial logistic regression was applied to model demand for available health care options, including no treatment, traditional self-treatment, modern self-treatment, traditional healers and facility-based care. RESULTS: For the first choice in care sought, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of self-treatment among the insured and uninsured populations, reaching over 55% for each group. When comparing the alternative option of no treatment, CBHI played no significant role in reducing the demand for self-care (either traditional or modern) or utilization of traditional healers, while it did significantly increase consumption of facility-based care. The average treatment effect on the treated was insignificant for traditional self-care, modern self-care and traditional healer, but was significant with a positive effect for use of facility care. DISCUSSION: While CBHI does have a positive impact on facility care utilization, its effect on reducing the prevalence of self-care is limited. The policy recommendations for improving the CBHI scheme's responsiveness to population health care demand should incorporate community-based initiatives that offer attractive and appropriate alternatives to self-care.