Publicly Funded Health Insurance & the Extent of Out-of-pocket Expenditure among the Elderly in India

The paper attempts to study the effectiveness of publicly funded health insurance (PFHI) schemes in increasing the utilization of hospitalization care service and to reduce the extent of out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) among the elderly in India. Using nationally representative data for 2014 and 2017-18 and applying log-linear model, binary logistic regression and propensity score matching techniques the study demonstrates that utilization has increased among the elderly and corresponding OOPE has also decreased. Additionally, elderly with PFHI facilities is paying significantly lower OOPE during hospitalization compared to those elderly who are not covered in the schemes. Analysis also indicates that cost of providing the service is substantially lower in the public facilities compared to the private hospitals. Therefore, strengthening public facilities are suggested to improve in access to healthcare services and to achieve the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goals of the country.