Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditures Among Insured and Uninsured Patients in Vietnam

Abstract

Out-of-pocket expenditure/payment (OOP) is one of the indicators measuring the achievement of Universal Health Coverage. This article aimed to compare OOP among the insured and uninsured for their outpatient and inpatient health care services. The data of 6710 individuals using outpatient care and 924 individuals using inpatient care at 78 district hospitals and 246 commune health centers in 6 provinces from the World Bank survey, "The 2015 Vietnam District and Commune Health Facility," were used for analysis. In the ordinary least square model, the estimated coefficient of the insurance status variable suggested that insurance reduced OOP by 31.1% for outpatient care and 31.5% for inpatient care of the insured as compared with the uninsured (P <0.001). For outpatient care, insurance reduced OOP more for those enrollees using commune health centers than those using district health facilities, 42.3% and 20.2%, respectively. For inpatient care at district health facilities, insurance reduced OOP by 34.9% as compared with the uninsured (P <0.001). The study suggested that more active solutions should be created to promote the universal health insurance in Vietnam.