Factors influencing demand for health nsurance in Uganda
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Date
2015
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Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
Globally, health insurance is recognized as an effective way of financing and increasing access to affordable health services. However, to date there is no empirical study conducted to investigate demand for health insurance in Uganda yet the 49.7 percent of health care financing expenditures come from households.This study therefore is set to analyse the factors influencing demand for health insurance in Uganda using data obtained from the 2011 Uganda Demographic Health Survey (UDHS) with a sample of 9,247 women aged 15-49 and 2,573 men aged 15-54.Univarate, bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out before probit models for both male and female individuals were estimated. VIF and Link test were used to test for multicollinearity and specification of the models respectively. The study results indicate that wealth, level of education, access to information and area of residence are significantly associated with demand for health insurance. However, age, marital status and health status as proxied by smoking are insignificant. Results further reveal that health insurance is more pronounced among wealthier, educated and well-informed individuals who reside in urban areas. The study therefore recommends for the policies geared towards poverty reduction, investing in education both at primary and secondary levels, increased public awareness about benefits of health insurance and establishment of a National Social Health insurance scheme since such variables were highly associated with demand for health insurance.
Description
Available in print form, East Africana Collection, Dr. Wilbert Chagula Library, Class mark (THS EAF HG9399.U33R52)
Keywords
Health insurance, Uganda
Citation
Richard, S. (2015) Factors influencing demand for health nsurance in Uganda, Master dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam