Recent Findings from University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Has Provided New Data on Public Health (Seeking care in the context of social health insurance in Kenya and Ghana)

2020 MAY 14 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Health and Medicine - Public Health are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating in San Francisco, California, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Social Health Insurance (SHI) is widely used by countries attempting to move toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC). While evidence suggests that SHI is a promising strategy for achieving UHC, low-income countries often struggle to implement and sustain SHI systems.”

Financial support for this research came from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), “It is therefore important to understand how SHI enrollees use health insurance and how it affects their health-seeking behavior. This paper examines how SHI affects patient decision-making regarding when and where to seek care in Kenya and Ghana, two countries with established SHI systems in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper draws from two datasets collected under the African Health Markets for Equity (AHME) program. One dataset, collected in 2013 and 2017 as part of the AHME qualitative evaluation, consists of 106 semi-structured clinic exit interviews conducted with patients in Ghana and Kenya. This data was analyzed using an inductive, thematic approach. The second dataset was collected internally by the AHME partner organizations. It derives from a cross-sectional survey of social franchise clients at three social franchise networks supported by AHME. Data collection took place from February -May 2018 and in December 2018. Many clients appreciated that insurance coverage made healthcare more affordable, reported seeking care more frequently when covered with SHI. Clients also noted that the coverage gave them access to a wider variety of providers, but rarely sought out SHI-accredited providers specifically. However, clients sometimes were charged for services that should have been covered by insurance. Due to a lack of understanding of SHI benefits, clients rarely knew they had been charged inappropriately. Clients and providers would benefit from education on what is included in the SHI package. Providers should be monitored and held accountable for charging clients inappropriately; in Ghana this should be accompanied by reforms to make government financing for SHI sustainable.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Since clients valued provider proximity and both Kenya and Ghana have a dearth of providers in rural areas, both countries should incentivize providers to work in these areas and prioritize accrediting rural facilities into SHI schemes to increase accessibility and reach.”

For more information on this research see: Seeking care in the context of social health insurance in Kenya and Ghana. Bmc Public Health, 2020;20(1):614. Bmc Public Health can be contacted at: Biomed Central LTD, Middlesex House, 34-42 Cleveland St, London W1T 4LB, England. (BioMed Central - http://www.biomedcentral.com/; Bmc Public Health - http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting L. Suchman, Institute for Global Health Sciences, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, United States. Additional authors for this research include C.V. Hashim, J. Adu and R. Mwachandi.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08742-1. 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.

The publisher of the journal Bmc Public Health can be contacted at: Biomed Central LTD, Middlesex House, 34-42 Cleveland St, London W1T 4LB, England.

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