University of Johannesburg Reports Findings in Health Economics (A Hierarchical Bayesian approach to small area estimation of health insurance coverage in Ethiopian administrative zones for better policies and programs): Economics – Health Economics

2024 APR 26 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Economics - Health Economics is the subject of a report. According to news reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Sample surveys are extensively used to provide reliable direct estimates for large areas or domains with enough sample sizes at national and regional levels. However, zones are unplanned domains by the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) program and need more sample sizes to produce direct survey estimates with adequate precision.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from the University of Johannesburg, “Conducting surveys in small areas (like zones) is too expensive and time-consuming, making it unfeasible for developing countries like Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aims to use the Hierarchical Bayes (HB) Small Area Estimation (SAE) model to estimate the Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI) coverage at the zone levels in Ethiopia. To achieve this, we combined the 2019 Ethiopia Mini-Demographic and Health Survey (EMDHS) data with the 2007 population census data. SAE has addressed the challenge of producing reliable parameter estimates for small or even zero sample sizes across Ethiopian zones by utilizing auxiliary information from the population census. The results show that model-based estimates generated by the SAE approach are more accurate than direct survey estimates of CBHI. A map of CBHI scheme coverage was also used to visualize the spatial variation in the distribution of CBHI scheme coverage. From the CBHI scheme coverage map, we noticed notable variations in CBHI scheme coverage across Ethiopian zones. Additionally, this research identified areas with high and low CBHI scheme coverage to improve decision-making and increase coverage in Ethiopia.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “One of the novelties of this paper is estimating the non-sampled zones; therefore, the policymakers will give equal attention similar to the sampled zones.”

For more information on this research see: A Hierarchical Bayesian approach to small area estimation of health insurance coverage in Ethiopian administrative zones for better policies and programs. Health Economics Review, 2024;14(1):29. Health Economics Review can be contacted at: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England. (Springer - www.springer.com; Health Economics Review - http://www.springerlink.com/content/2191-1991/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Yegnanew A. Shiferaw, Dept. of Statistics, University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa. Additional authors for this research include Seyifemickael Amare Yilema and Yikeber Abebaw Moyehodie.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-024-00498-3. 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 Health Economics Review is: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England.

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