01-09-2018 | Research Article
The impact of subsidized private health insurance and health facility upgrades on healthcare utilization and spending in rural Nigeria
Published in: International Journal of Health Economics and Management | Issue 3/2018
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This paper analyzes the quantitative impact of an intervention that provides subsidized low-cost private health insurance together with health facility upgrades in Nigeria. The evaluation, which measures impact on healthcare utilization and spending, is based on a quasi-experimental design and utilizes three population-based household surveys over a 4-year period. After 4 years, the intervention increased healthcare use by 25.2 percentage points in the treatment area overall and by 17.7 percentage points among the insured. Utilization of modern healthcare facilities increased after 4 years by 20.4 percentage points in the treatment area and by 18.4 percentage points among the insured due to the intervention. After 2 years of program implementation, the intervention reduced healthcare spending by 51% compared with baseline, while after 4 years, spending resumed to pre-intervention levels.