Household Catastrophic Health Care Expenditure: Evidence on the Effects of Out-of-pocket Health Care Payments on Household Income in East African Region

Abstract

Out Of Pocket Payments (OOPP) refers to the amount of money a patient pays for medical expenses that are not covered by a health insurance plan (National Cancer Institute, 2022). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines OOPP as the individuals' direct payments to healthcare providers at the time of service use (Kalantari, 2012). Developing countries are exposed to considerable socio-economic vulnerabilities. Catastrophic out-of-pocket spending has adverse effects on individual and household income, especially where policies on healthcare financing does not favor the poor. Heath care funding and the quality of healthcare outcomes in development are inseparable.  The World Health Organization Assembly resolution of 2005 on universal coverage and sustainable health financing, the Paris Declaration of 2001 on greater Investments in the Health Sector, Health Insurance and Financing, and the Sustainable Development Goal number 1 on ending all forms of poverty forms the basis of this study. African Governments committed through the Abuja Declaration, to allocate and spend at least 15 percent of government funds of their National GDP on health. In June 2015, Countries in the East African Community concurrently released their National budgets for the Financial Years 2015/2016. None of the countries had fulfilled the Abuja declaration promise on healthcare investment in East African Community. This study examined how different countries in East Africa have invested in healthcare and the state of out-of-pocket spending on household income. Related literature review will be analyzed, and conclusions and the way forward in relation to household healthcare spending in East African Countries will be discussed.