Chulalongkorn University Reports Findings in Health Services [Laos’ Social Health Insurance (SHI) program’s impact on older people’s accessibility and financial security against catastrophic health expense]: Health and Medicine – Health Services

2023 DEC 11 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Education Daily Report -- New research on Health and Medicine - Health Services is the subject of a report. According to news reporting from Bangkok, Thailand, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Laos has introduced various SHI schemes for multiple groups of the population, such as government officials and other population groups under the NHI schemes. There is no specific health insurance policy for this group of people who need special health services and may have a higher possibility of entering financial catastrophe.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Chulalongkorn University, “This study aims to assess the impact of SHI schemes on accessibility and financial catastrophe against catastrophic health expenditures for older people in Laos. A structured questionnaire has been used to retrieve information from 400 older people across 39 villages in Kaysone Phomvihane District, Savannakhet province, the largest province in Laos. In the analytical process, this study used a cross-sectional study design and binary logistic regression models to predict the likelihood of accessing health facilities and experiencing financial catastrophe. The study outcome shows that the increase in age, occupation, number of older people within a household, and presence of chronic conditions increase the likelihood of using health services. Despite the existence of various SHI schemes, this study found that 74 out of 165 households reported using health services experienced catastrophic health expenditure. Several characteristics are associated with catastrophic health expenditure: age, income level, and gender are prone to suffer from catastrophic health expenditure. The difficult problems stem from the absence of comprehensive legislation regarding the older population.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Recommendations for policymakers in various timeframes have been made, which cover short- and long-term policy proposals, including providing a specialized lane or fast-track for an older population, building health facilities exclusively for older people, and providing transportation services for older individuals living alone.”

For more information on this research see: Laos’ Social Health Insurance (SHI) program’s impact on older people’s accessibility and financial security against catastrophic health expense. BMC Health Services Research, 2023;23(1):1317. BMC Health Services Research can be contacted at: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England. (BioMed Central - http://www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Health Services Research - http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservres/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Somdeth Bodhisane, College of Public Health Sciences (CPHS), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-10063-z. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Publisher contact information for the journal BMC Health Services Research is: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England.

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