The Inequality in Healthcare Access in Bihar: Pattern and Determinants

Abstract

Healthcare access varies across socioeconomic determinants and therefore, states’ demographic and socioeconomic structure plays an important role in an individual’s health status in the state. For example, richer have better access to healthcare than poorer, and women have lower healthcare access than men. In this study, the role of socioeconomic determinants in healthcare access is discussed in five states of India—Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh; therefore, this article aims to determine how healthcare access across socioeconomic determinants varies across states. The study is based on the National Sample Survey 75th round of data on health (2017–2018). A comparative study is conducted to know the percentage of non-access to healthcare (unmet needs) across different socioeconomic determinants such as age, gender, income, religion, caste and others. A logistic regression model is used to determine significant socioeconomic factors in healthcare access in all five states. The concentration index and concentration curve show the inequality in healthcare access across income quintiles. The result shows that Bihar has the highest cases of non-access to healthcare across most socioeconomic determinants followed by Odisha and Jharkhand. In addition, cases of non-access to healthcare in all five states are largely higher than the national average. The result further shows that only a few socioeconomic determinants such as income class and caste are significant to healthcare access and state-wise, they vary. JEL: I140; I150; I18