title: Willingness and ability to pay for physician services in six Central and Eastern European countries.
abstract: Patient charges for physician services are implemented in high-income countries and often are considered in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). However, there is no evidence on the potential consumption effects of service charges in these countries. This study provides evidence on the potential impact of patient charges on the consumption of specialized physician services in six CEE countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. We apply a semi-parametric survival analysis to stated willingness and ability to pay (WATP) in order to identify potential demand pools and their price, income and age semi-elasticity. Data are collected through a survey held in 2010 among representative samples of about 1000 respondents in each country. Our results suggest that median WATP in the studied countries is comparable to the cost of the services. The obtained demand pools appear to be theoretically valid and externally consistent. They provide information on the shares of population that would be WATP certain fee levels, and their heterogeneity across socio-demographic groups gives an idea about the population groups that will need to be exempted.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, National University of 'Kyiv-Mohyla Academy', Skovorody St. 2, Kiev 04655, Ukraine; Department of Health Services Research, CAPHRI, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: danyliv@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andriy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Danyliv
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research, CAPHRI, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Top Institute Evidence Based Education Research (TIER), Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Groot
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, National University of 'Kyiv-Mohyla Academy', Skovorody St. 2, Kiev 04655, Ukraine.
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gryga
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research, CAPHRI, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pavlova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D004548:Elasticity; D005061:Europe, Eastern; D005251:Fees, Medical; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000191:economics*; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Demand; Elasticity; User charges; Willingness to pay