Researchers from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Provide Details of New Studies and Findings in the Area of Equity in Health (Socioeconomic disparities in healthcare utilization under universal health coverage: …): Health and Medicine – Equity in Health

2022 JUL 12 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on equity in health is the subject of a new report. According to news reporting out of Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health by NewsRx editors, research stated, “In 2013, Dubai implemented the Insurance System of Advancing Health in Dubai (ISAHD) law which required mandatory health insurance for all residents of Dubai effective in 2016. This study compares the effect of the ISAHD on the utilization and out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures for low and high socio-economic status sub-groups.”

The news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health: “The study used the 2014 and 2018 Dubai Household Health Survey (DHHS) a representative survey of Dubai stratified as: 1) Nationals; 2) Non-nationals in households; 3) Non-nationals in collective housing; and 4) Non-nationals in labor camps. The probability that each household would have expenditures was calculated, then multiplied by a weighted estimate of the average total OOP expenditure. Overall Dubai’s health spending rose from 12.8 billion AED (3.4 billion US $) in 2014 to 16.8 billion AED (4.6 billion US $) in 2017. Concurrently, the OOP share in total health spending in Dubai fell from 25% in 2014 to 13% in 2017. From 2014 to 2018, there were increases in the utilization of inpatient, outpatient and discretionary services for all groups except non-nationals living in camps. In 2018, nationals spent a total of 1064.65 AED, non-nationals in households spent 675.01 AED, collective households spent 82.35 AED, and labor camps spent 100.32 AED out-of-pocket per capita for healthcare expenditures. During and after the implementation of ISAHD, there was a substantial growth in the OOP expenditure per capita for nationals and non-nationals in households due to increased utilization. OOP spending did not rise for the lower-income non-National households.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Dubai has been successful in reducing the household share of OOP expenditures by shifting the financial burden to government and employers. Emiratis and expatriate households increased their health service utilization after ISAHD but blue-collar workers did not. Remaining non-financial barriers to care for Dubai’s blue-collar workers must be identified and addressed.”

For more information on this research see: Socioeconomic disparities in healthcare utilization under universal health coverage: evidence from Dubai household health survey. International Journal for Equity in Health, 2022,21(1):1-9. (International Journal for Equity in Health - http://www.equityhealthj.com/). The publisher for International Journal for Equity in Health is BMC.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-022-01691-8.

Our news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Shreena Malaviya, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. Additional authors for this research include David Bishai, Meenu Mahak Soni, El Daw Suliman.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)