scholarly journals The shared experiences of insured members and the uninsured in health care access and utilization under Ghana’s national health insurance scheme: Evidence from the Hohoe Municipality

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0244155
Author(s):  
Suraiya Umar ◽  
Adam Fusheini ◽  
Martin Amogre Ayanore
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health Care Access ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
National Health Insurance Scheme ◽  
Insurance Scheme ◽  
Financial Barriers ◽  
Care Access ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Barriers To Health

Background The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was introduced in Ghana in 2003 to remove financial barriers and to promote equitable access to health care services. Post implementation has been characterized by increases in access and utilization of services among the insured. The uninsured have been less likely to utilize services due to unaffordability of health care costs. In this study, we explored the experiences of the insured members of the NHIS, the uninsured and health professionals in accessing and utilizing health care services under the NHIS in the Hohoe Municipality of Ghana. Methods Qualitative in-depth interviews were held with twenty-five NHIS insured, twenty-five uninsured, and five health care professionals, who were randomly sampled from the Hohoe Municipality to collect data for this study. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results Participants identified both enablers or motivating factors and barriers to health care services of the insured and uninsured. The major factors motivating members to access and use health care services were illness severity and symptom persistence. On the other hand, barriers identified included perceived poor service quality and lack of health insurance among the insured and uninsured respectively. Other barriers participants identified included financial constraints, poor attitudes of service providers, and prolonged waiting time. However, the level of care received were reportedly about the same among the insured and uninsured with access to quality health care much dependent on ability to pay, which favors the rich and thereby creating inequity in accessing the needed quality care services. Conclusion The implication of the financial barriers to health care access identified is that the poor and uninsured still suffer from health care access challenges, which questions the efficiency and core goal of the NHIS in removing financial barrier to health care access. This has the potential of undermining Ghana’s ability to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 3.8 of universal health coverage by the year 2030.

scholarly journals Health Care Access Among Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers, 31 States, 2017-2018

2021 ◽  
pp. 003335492199668
Author(s):  
Winifred L. Boal ◽  
Jia Li ◽  
Sharon R. Silver
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health Care Access ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
The Past ◽  
Care Access ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Access To Health

Objectives Essential workers in the United States need access to health care services for preventive care and for diagnosis and treatment of illnesses (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19] or other infectious or chronic diseases) to remain healthy and continue working during a pandemic. This study evaluated access to health care services among selected essential workers. Methods We used the most recent data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2017-2018, to estimate the prevalence of 4 measures of health care access (having health insurance, being able to afford to see a doctor when needed, having a personal health care provider, and having a routine checkup in the past year) by broad and detailed occupation group among 189 208 adults aged 18-64. Results Of all occupations studied, workers in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations were most likely to have no health insurance (46.4%). Personal care aides were most likely to have been unable to see a doctor when needed because of cost (29.3%). Construction laborers were most likely to lack a personal health care provider (51.1%) and to have not had a routine physical checkup in the past year (50.6%). Compared with workers in general, workers in 3 broad occupation groups—food preparation and serving; building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; and construction trades—had significantly lower levels of health care access for all 4 measures. Conclusion Lack of health insurance and underinsurance were common among subsets of essential workers. Limited access to health care might decrease essential workers’ access to medical testing and needed care and hinder their ability to address underlying conditions, thereby increasing their risk of severe outcomes from some infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. Improving access to health care for all workers, including essential workers, is critical to ensure workers’ health and workforce stability.

scholarly journals Assessment of satisfaction and utilization of health-care services by National Health Insurance Scheme enrolees at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abubakar Yusuf ◽  
Abubakar M. Jibo ◽  
Sanusi Abubakar ◽  
Bukar A. Grema ◽  
Auwal U. Gajida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Access To Care ◽  
National Health Insurance ◽  
National Health ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
National Health Insurance Scheme ◽  
Service Improvement ◽  
Insurance Scheme ◽  
Care Services

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) aims at universal health coverage through access to high-quality health-care to all enrolees. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to incorporate feedbacks from periodic patient-surveys into service improvement plans. This study therefore, assessed satisfaction and utilization of health-care services by enrolees of a Nigerian tertiary hospital. This was a crosssectional study of 399 respondents randomly selected from enrolees attending the NHIS-clinic of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano. Using an intervieweradministered questionnaire, it assessed their sociodemographics, medical history, number of and reason for clinic visits, satisfaction with- access to care, patient-provider relationships and hospital facilities/environment. Respondents’ mean age was 38.3 ± 9.2 years and females accounted for 55.9% of respondents. Most respondents (60.4%, 69.8%, 96.0%) were satisfied with the ease of accessing care, waiting-time and hospital facilities/environment respectively. Most respondents (94.8%, 81.1%, 73.3%, 74.5%, 83.1%, 91.1%) were satisfied with their relationship with physicians, nurses, laboratory staff, pharmacists, record officers and other hospital-staff respectively. Overall, 80.5% of respondents were satisfied with the hospital’s services. All respondents had visited the clinic at least once in the preceding 12-weeks. Although 49.1% visited for non-communicable diseases, more respondents who were for antenatal-care (followed by non-communicable and communicable diseases) had had ≥ 2 clinic visits (c2 =15.5%, df=2, P=0.0001). This study observed a high utilization of and overallsatisfaction with the hospital’s services; however, there is a need for service improvement plans to address the challenges of patient access to care and waitingtime.

scholarly journals Do Health Insurance Scheme affect the Livelihood of People in the Rural Area of Ghana: Empirical Evidence from Adaklu Anyigbe

2020 ◽  
pp. 460-465
Author(s):  
Phanuel Mawuli Kofi Segbefia ◽  
Yinghua Chen ◽  
Emmanuel Kwaku Manu
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
National Health Insurance Scheme ◽  
Health Insurance Scheme ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Insurance Scheme ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Adequate Funding ◽  
The People

The main objective of establishing the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is to protect the poor and put health in the hands of the people. It also aims to provide health services for all by abolishing the "cash and carry" system in which patients are asked to pay before they are treated. This study was conducted to assess a new method of financing Health Care in Ghana, evaluation of Mutual Health Insurance Scheme in Adaklu Anyigbe. A questionnaire was designed using structured questions to collect primary data from health facilities and clients of the NHIS. Personal interviews were held to solicit views and comments from some respondents. The results show that the availability of adequate funds for health care services is very important for the survival of the health insurance scheme. Adequate funding for health care services will assist in meeting health care services and delivery requirements for health service facilities and clients in Ghana. Meeting Ghana's health requirements will require the adoption of effective policies and guiding principles that integrate the input and concerns of all stakeholders from the health care business.

scholarly journals To: Plos One Knowledge, experiences and perceptions of the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme in three districts

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sataru Fuseini ◽  
Seddoh Anthony
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
National Health Insurance ◽  
National Health ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
National Health Insurance Scheme ◽  
Health Insurance Scheme ◽  
Insurance Scheme ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Care Services

Background Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme is a demand side programme where the governing authority registers clients and purchases health care services for them from public and private providers. Access of services is high across a broad Benefits Package with no parallel enrolment necessary for any type of service at the point of access. Nonetheless, there is evidence of difficulty in acquiring and use of the NHIS card to access health care services. Objective While studies had been conducted into general awareness, there was no linkage between awareness, uptake and experiences with registration and use of the card. This study fills this gap. Methods This is a descriptive study. A mix of qualitative (39 Focus Group Discussions) and quantitative (625 household interviews) methods were used to collect the data. Qualitative data was analysed manually using a thematic approach while a frequency analysis was done for the quantitative data. Results Knowledge about the Scheme was near universal. Enrolment was lower among FGD discussants, 38.7% had valid cards, than for household respondents, 62.9% valid cards. While mixed experiences with the registration process was observed among FGD discussants, 74% of the households’ ranked attitudes of Scheme staff as positive. The study found the NHIS card facilitates access to facility based health care. Satisfaction levels with use of the card were mixed and contextual among discussants. However, 90% of households reported their cards were readily accepted at health facilities. Expired card (51.4%) and health facility had stopped accepting NHIS cards (14.3%) were mentioned as reasons for non-acceptance. Conclusion People’s experience during registration and use of the NHIS card to access health care has lasting effect on their perceptions of the Scheme. This can be harnessed to manage the high expectations, grow membership, discourage frivolous use and address artificial barriers of access.

Impact of restricting access to health care services on Syrian refugees in Jordan: evidence from cross-sectional surveys

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibraheem Khaled Abu Siam ◽  
María Rubio Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Access ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Health Care Cost ◽  
Syrian Refugees ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Care Access ◽  
Care Services

Purpose Access to health-care services for refugees are always impacted by many factors and strongly associated with population profile, nature of crisis and capacities of hosing countries. Throughout refugee’s crisis, the Jordanian Government has adopted several healthcare access policies to meet the health needs of Syrian refugees while maintaining the stability of the health-care system. The adopted health-care provision policies ranged from enabling to restricting and from affordable to unaffordable. The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence of restricted level of access to essential health services among Syrian refugees in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach This paper used findings of a cross-sectional surveys conducted over urban Syrian refugees in Jordan in 2017 and 2018 over two different health-care access policies. The first were inclusive and affordable, whereas the other considered very restricting policy owing to high inflation in health-care cost. Access indicators from four main thematic areas were selected including maternal health, family planning, child health and monthly access of household. A comparison between both years’ access indicators was conducted to understand access barriers and its impact. Findings The comparison between findings of both surveys shows a sudden shift in health-care access and utilization behaviors with increased barriers level thus increased health vulnerabilities. Additionally, the finding during implementation of restricted access policy proves the tendency among some refugees groups to adopt negative adaptation strategies to reduce health-care cost. The participants shifted to use a fragmented health-care, reduced or delayed care seeking and use drugs irrationally weather by self-medication or reduce drug intake. Originality/value Understanding access barriers to health services and its negative short-term and long-term impact on refugees’ health status as well as the extended risks to the host communities will help states that hosting refugees building rational access policy to protect whole community and save public health gains during and post crisis. Additionally, it will support donors to better mobilize resources according to the needs while the humanitarian actors and service providers will better contribute to the public health stability during refugee’s crisis.

scholarly journals The Association of Residence Permits on Utilization of Health Care Services by Migrant Workers in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 9623
Author(s):  
Haochuan Xu ◽  
Han Yang ◽  
Hui Wang ◽  
Xuefeng Li
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Access ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Public Health Care ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Care Access ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The Impact

Due to the limitations in the verifiability of individual identity, migrant workers have encountered some obstacles in access to public health care services. Residence permits issued by the Chinese government are a solution to address the health care access inequality faced by migrant workers. In principle, migrant workers with residence permits have similar rights as urban locals. However, the validity of residence permits is still controversial. This study aimed to examine the impact of residence permits on public health care services. Data were taken from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS). Our results showed that the utilization of health care services of migrant workers with residence permits was significantly better than others. However, although statistically significant, the substantive significance is modest. In addition, megacities had significant negative moderating effects between residence permits and health care services utilization. Our research results emphasized that reforms of the household registration system, taking the residence permit system as a breakthrough, cannot wholly address the health care access inequality in China. For developing countries with uneven regional development, the health care access inequality faced by migrant workers is a structural issue.

scholarly journals COMMUNITY-BASED HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEME IN A RURAL COMMUNITY OF NORTH WEST NIGERIA: A ROADMAP TO ACHIEVING UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE.

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-130
Author(s):  
Lawal A ◽  
◽  
Gobir AA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Health Insurance Scheme ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Insurance Scheme ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Community Based Health Insurance ◽  
Care Services

Background: Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) scheme is aimed at reducing out of pocket spending on health care services, ensuring final risk protection to all, especially the poor and the most vulnerable, improvement of quality of health care services, access and utilization as well as the promotion of equity. Objective: This research was aimed at determining willingness to participate in a community-based health insurance scheme among rural households in Katsina State. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in December 2016 among households of Batagarawa LGA, Katsina State. We used a pre-tested, electronic, semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire to obtain data from households that were selected using a multistage sampling technique and we analyzed the data using STATA version 13. Results: Most, (28.5%) of the respondents were in the age range of 30-39 years with a mean age of 35.5 years. Males were the dominant household heads (93%). Most were married (90%). Most, (90.5%) of households were willing to pay for a community-based health insurance scheme with a median premium of 100 Naira per household member per month. Conclusions: The high proportion of households willing to pay for the scheme should inform the decision of policy makers to design and maintain Community Based Health Insurance Scheme to improve access to and utilization of quality health care services.

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