Are Free Government Health Services the Best Way to Reach to Poor?
No hay miniatura disponible
Fecha
Autores
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
World Bank, Washington, DC
Resumen
Descripción
The paper asks whether the pursuit of
universal coverage by a wide range of free government
services constitutes the most promising approach to meeting
the needs of disadvantaged population groups. The response
given to that question is probably not. The record to date
points clearly to the danger that the benefits of subsidized
government health services will flow primarily to the
better-off, rather than to the poor for whom the services
are intended. While there is no perfect approach to dealing
with this issue, the record also points to several
approaches that can significantly ameliorate the situation.
Two of them, discussed in the paper, are the adoption of
targeting measures to increase the proportion of benefits
from government expenditures that flow to the poor; and the
development of alternative, self-sustaining service
financing and delivery mechanisms to serve the better-off.
Successful implementation of approaches like these would
allow governments to focus their efforts to achieve
universal free coverage on a limited number of interventions
that are particularly important for poor groups.
Palabras clave
CHILD HEALTH, CHILD HEALTH SERVICES, CLEAN WATER, CLINICS, COMMUNICABLE DISEASES, DELIVERY MECHANISMS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC POLICIES, EXPENDITURES, FAMILIES, HEALTH CARE, HEALTH CARE COSTS, HEALTH CARE EXPENDITURES, HEALTH CARE FINANCING, HEALTH EXPENDITURES, HEALTH FACILITIES, HEALTH FINANCING, HEALTH INSURANCE, HEALTH PROGRAMS, HEALTH REFORM, HEALTH SECTOR, HEALTH SERVICE PROVISION, HEALTH SERVICE USE, HEALTH SERVICES, HEALTH STATUS, HEALTH SYSTEM, HOSPITAL CARE, HOSPITALIZATION, HOUSEHOLDS, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES, IMMUNIZATION, INCIDENCE ANALYSIS, INCOME, INFANT MORTALITY, INTERVENTION, LATIN AMERICAN, LESSONS LEARNED, MEDICAL CARE, MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, MEDICAL TREATMENT, NUTRITION, POLICY RESEARCH, POPULATION GROUPS, PRIMARY CARE, PRIVATE SECTOR, PROMOTING HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES, PUBLIC SECTOR, RADIO, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, RURAL HEALTH, RURAL HEALTH CARE, SAFETY, SAFETY NETS, SECURITY SYSTEMS, SERVICE DELIVERY