Assessing the determinants of healthcare expenditures in single-person households

Aviad Tur-Sinai,Haya Grinvald-Fogel,Racheli Magnezi

doi:10.1186/s13584-018-0246-8

Abstract

BackgroundThe study documents a direct relationship between individuals’ health and patterns of healthcare expenditure by isolating single-person households and creating a new reference group in which household healthcare expenditure is based on one person’s expenditure patterns in accordance with his or her own state of health.MethodThe study matched two surveys using Propensity Score Matching based on single-person household, age, and gender. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) explores paths of relation between the population’s income and socioeconomic level and its health self-assessment and expenditure.ResultsSingle-person households’ health expenditure increases with age and the differences in most expenditure categories are significant. The current study looks into the direct and indirect effects of income, gender, and SES on health insurance and other out-of-pocket health expenses among single-person households. A direct link exists between income, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) and several aspects of health expenditure, depending on the specific age group. The indirect effects are attested via health status assessment, in which a negative correlation is found between self-assessed health status and various health-expenditure categories.ConclusionsThe last-mentioned result may support the general perception that single-person households who feel that they are doing better than their near-equals enjoy better health. This line of inquiry yields a better examination of how a single-person household’s state of health affects expenditure patterns without assuming ab initio that expenditure patterns attest to state of health.

Highlights

The study documents a direct relationship between individuals’ health and patterns of healthcare expenditure by isolating single-person households and creating a new reference group in which household healthcare expenditure is based on one person’s expenditure patterns in accordance with his or her own state of health
The study is a milestone in the discussion of the characteristics of state of health and healthcare expenditure by single-person households—a subpopulation about which little has been done and learned so far
After the data were weighted to correspond to the proportions of the age groups in the population, it was found that healthcare expenditures increased with age and that the differences in most expenditure categories were significant

Summary

Introduction

The study documents a direct relationship between individuals’ health and patterns of healthcare expenditure by isolating single-person households and creating a new reference group in which household healthcare expenditure is based on one person’s expenditure patterns in accordance with his or her own state of health. Given the upward trend in the share of private funding in national healthcare expenditures [23], it may be surmised that basing healthcare on a large proportion of private funding may force many to forgo necessary medical treatment due to its cost [37]. The main costs that are privately funded are direct payments or charges for consultations with specialists, medical procedures, medicines, and tests [40]. Notwithstanding the resolution, the world is still very far from fulfilling the vision of universal coverage [38]. This is attributed, among other factors, to the many countries that rely on private funding to cover large shares of healthcare costs [21]

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Discussion

Conclusion