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Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Willingness to Pay for Medical Care Among Government School Teachers in Addis Ababa

Received: 5 July 2015    Accepted: 16 July 2015    Published: 28 July 2015
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Abstract

In low income countries households are the principal health financing agents. Their expense goes not without shrinking the basic consumptions of the household. This cost is not even enough to avert the consequences either. As a consequence it perpetuates the vicious cycle between sickness and poverty. Control of diseases or their outcome will depend on socioeconomic determinants. Understanding what affects willingness-to-pay (WTP) for medical care is very important to design choices about the allocation of scarce resources. The objective of this study was to assess the association between socioeconomic status and WTP for medical care among government school teachers in Addis Ababa. A cross sectional survey methodology was employed and a structured questionnaire was administered to 847 government school teachers between January to March 2011. The sample was generated by a two-stage probability proportional to size sampling (PPS) method. A dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (CVM) in the single bound formulation was used to elicit a “yes” or “no” answer by respondents when asked if they are WTP a given bid for medical care. Three hypothetical case scenarios: common cold (CC), glaucoma (BD) and heart attack (HAT) were designated. Both descriptive and analytic statistics were used to analyze the data. The degree and strength of association between the explanatory variables and willingness to pay were evaluated by logistic regression. Generally more respondents were WTP for CC, BD and HAT in government than private facilities. In government facilities WTP for CC and BD did not vary with socioeconomic status. However WTP for HAT was lower in the low income group and educational status. In private facilities WTP for CC varied with land ownership only.WTP for both BD and HAT was higher in those with better income and who own land. Educational level, proxy indicators of wealth, income level, lower medical care costs and seriousness of illness were found to positively influence the WTP for medical care. Improving employment benefits and establishing a mechanism to help raise the ability to pay are commendable policy measures.

Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 3, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20150305.23
Page(s) 677-685
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Willingness to Pay, Contingent Valuation Method, Medical Care

References
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  • APA Style

    Kumlachew Abate, Alemayehu Worku, Shimels Hussien, Ayalew Aklilu. (2015). Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Willingness to Pay for Medical Care Among Government School Teachers in Addis Ababa. Science Journal of Public Health, 3(5), 677-685. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150305.23

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    ACS Style

    Kumlachew Abate; Alemayehu Worku; Shimels Hussien; Ayalew Aklilu. Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Willingness to Pay for Medical Care Among Government School Teachers in Addis Ababa. Sci. J. Public Health 2015, 3(5), 677-685. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150305.23

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    AMA Style

    Kumlachew Abate, Alemayehu Worku, Shimels Hussien, Ayalew Aklilu. Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Willingness to Pay for Medical Care Among Government School Teachers in Addis Ababa. Sci J Public Health. 2015;3(5):677-685. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150305.23

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20150305.23,
      author = {Kumlachew Abate and Alemayehu Worku and Shimels Hussien and Ayalew Aklilu},
      title = {Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Willingness to Pay for Medical Care Among Government School Teachers in Addis Ababa},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {3},
      number = {5},
      pages = {677-685},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20150305.23},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150305.23},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20150305.23},
      abstract = {In low income countries households are the principal health financing agents. Their expense goes not without shrinking the basic consumptions of the household. This cost is not even enough to avert the consequences either. As a consequence it perpetuates the vicious cycle between sickness and poverty. Control of diseases or their outcome will depend on socioeconomic determinants. Understanding what affects willingness-to-pay (WTP) for medical care is very important to design choices about the allocation of scarce resources. The objective of this study was to assess the association between socioeconomic status and WTP for medical care among government school teachers in Addis Ababa. A cross sectional survey methodology was employed and a structured questionnaire was administered to 847 government school teachers between January to March 2011. The sample was generated by a two-stage probability proportional to size sampling (PPS) method. A dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (CVM) in the single bound formulation was used to elicit a “yes” or “no” answer by respondents when asked if they are WTP a given bid for medical care. Three hypothetical case scenarios: common cold (CC), glaucoma (BD) and heart attack (HAT) were designated. Both descriptive and analytic statistics were used to analyze the data. The degree and strength of association between the explanatory variables and willingness to pay were evaluated by logistic regression. Generally more respondents were WTP for CC, BD and HAT in government than private facilities. In government facilities WTP for CC and BD did not vary with socioeconomic status. However WTP for HAT was lower in the low income group and educational status. In private facilities WTP for CC varied with land ownership only.WTP for both BD and HAT was higher in those with better income and who own land. Educational level, proxy indicators of wealth, income level, lower medical care costs and seriousness of illness were found to positively influence the WTP for medical care. Improving employment benefits and establishing a mechanism to help raise the ability to pay are commendable policy measures.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Willingness to Pay for Medical Care Among Government School Teachers in Addis Ababa
    AU  - Kumlachew Abate
    AU  - Alemayehu Worku
    AU  - Shimels Hussien
    AU  - Ayalew Aklilu
    Y1  - 2015/07/28
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150305.23
    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjph.20150305.23
    T2  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JF  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JO  - Science Journal of Public Health
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    EP  - 685
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7950
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150305.23
    AB  - In low income countries households are the principal health financing agents. Their expense goes not without shrinking the basic consumptions of the household. This cost is not even enough to avert the consequences either. As a consequence it perpetuates the vicious cycle between sickness and poverty. Control of diseases or their outcome will depend on socioeconomic determinants. Understanding what affects willingness-to-pay (WTP) for medical care is very important to design choices about the allocation of scarce resources. The objective of this study was to assess the association between socioeconomic status and WTP for medical care among government school teachers in Addis Ababa. A cross sectional survey methodology was employed and a structured questionnaire was administered to 847 government school teachers between January to March 2011. The sample was generated by a two-stage probability proportional to size sampling (PPS) method. A dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (CVM) in the single bound formulation was used to elicit a “yes” or “no” answer by respondents when asked if they are WTP a given bid for medical care. Three hypothetical case scenarios: common cold (CC), glaucoma (BD) and heart attack (HAT) were designated. Both descriptive and analytic statistics were used to analyze the data. The degree and strength of association between the explanatory variables and willingness to pay were evaluated by logistic regression. Generally more respondents were WTP for CC, BD and HAT in government than private facilities. In government facilities WTP for CC and BD did not vary with socioeconomic status. However WTP for HAT was lower in the low income group and educational status. In private facilities WTP for CC varied with land ownership only.WTP for both BD and HAT was higher in those with better income and who own land. Educational level, proxy indicators of wealth, income level, lower medical care costs and seriousness of illness were found to positively influence the WTP for medical care. Improving employment benefits and establishing a mechanism to help raise the ability to pay are commendable policy measures.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Public Health Section, Juba, South Sudan

  • Department of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Department of Biostatics, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  • World Health Organization, MCH/Nutrition Cluster, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  • Tulane International-Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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