title: Who pays for health care in Asia?
abstract: We estimate the distributional incidence of health care financing in 13 Asian territories that account for 55% of the Asian population. In all territories, higher-income households contribute more to the financing of health care. The better-off contribute more as a proportion of ability to pay in most low- and lower-middle-income territories. Health care financing is slightly regressive in three high-income economies with universal social insurance. Direct taxation is the most progressive source of finance and is most so in poorer economies. In universal systems, social insurance is proportional to regressive. In high-income economies, the out-of-pocket (OOP) payments are proportional or regressive while in low-income economies the better-off spend relatively more OOP. But in most low-/middle-income countries, the better-off not only pay more, they also get more health care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies, University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia Street, Thessaloniki 54006, Greece. ood@uom.gr
authors.forename: Owen
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: Eddy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Doorslaer
authors.forename: Ravi P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Rannan-Eliya
authors.forename: Aparnaa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Somanathan
authors.forename: Shiva Raj
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Adhikari
authors.forename: Baktygul
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Akkazieva
authors.forename: Deni
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Harbianto
authors.forename: Charu C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.forename: Piya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hanvoravongchai
authors.forename: Alejandro N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Herrin
authors.forename: Mohammed N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Huq
authors.forename: Shamsia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ibragimova
authors.forename: Anup
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karan
authors.forename: Soon-man
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Gabriel M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Jui-fen Rachel
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohkusa
authors.forename: Badri Raj
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Pande
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Racelis
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tin
authors.forename: Kanjana
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tisayaticom
authors.forename: Laksono
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Trisnantoro
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Bong-Min
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yuxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D001208:Asia; D017047:Cost Sharing; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D005382:Financing, Personal; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors