The Protective Effect of Public Health Care Financing on Self-reported Health during 2008 Economic Crisis in Post-soviet Countries

• Main Authors: Ksenia Olisova, 歐妮雅
• Other Authors: Bradley Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/zav9pv

碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 國際衛生碩士學位學程 === 106 === Introduction: Government spending on health affects the quantity and quality of public health services, which often serve as the safety net for population health. This is especially important during an economic crisis, when people may face the double burden of increased health demand and reduced economic resources, making it more difficult for them to access the care they need. During the 2008 global financial crisis, country governments adopted different strategies to respond to the financial pressure, leading to either increase or decrease in its health spending. Such divergence in their health financing approaches provides an opportunity to examine the effect of public health care financing on health. Research objectives: To investigate the role of public-sector health expenditure (PSHE) on self-reported health (SRH) during the financial crisis and to identify potential demographic and socioeconomic characteristics that would modify the relationship between SRH and PSHE Methodology: The study sample included 29100 individuals from 14 post-soviet countries. Information on individuals’ SRH, as well as their demographic and socioeconomic data, were derived from the Life in Transition Survey in 2006 and 2010. Data on PSHE of the same years were retrieved from WHO’s European Health for All database. The effect of PSHE was identified using ordered logistic regression coupled with the difference-in-differences strategy. All analyses were conducted using STATA 12. Results: Our results show that increased PSHE was associated with a 45% increase in odds in reporting good health. After stratification by income, odds to report better health for the high-income group were 54% higher than for the low-income group. Other protective factors for SRH included living in a metropolitan area, employment, having secondary education and higher. Conclusion: Public-sector health expenditure plays a crucial role in protecting citizens from financial hardship during the time of economic downturns. The government should provide a sufficient allocation of available resources with attention to vulnerable groups, reduce economic inequalities and increase the education level of the population. All of these measures will contribute to the better state of health.