Household Spending and Impoverishment

Knaul FM, Wong R, Arreola-Ornelas H. (Eds.) Household Spending and Impoverishment. Volume 1 of Financing Health in Latin America Series. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Global Equity Initiative, Mexican Health Foundation, International Development Research Centre, 2013, Dist. by Harvard University Press

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 Last revised: 9 May 2013

See all articles by Felicia Knaul

Felicia Knaul

Harvard Global Equity Initiative; Mexican Health Foundation

Rebeca Wong

University of Maryland - Maryland Population Research Center

Héctor Arreola-Ornelas

Fundación Mexicana para la Salud, A.C.

Date Written: February 1, 2013

Abstract

Among the most serious challenges facing health systems in lower and middle income countries is establishing efficient, fair, and sustainable financing mechanisms that offer universal protection. Lack of financial protection forces families to suffer the burden not only of illness but also of economic ruin and impoverishment. In Latin America, financial protection for health continues to be segmented and fragmented; health is mainly financed through out-of-pocket payments.

Financing Health in Latin America presents new and important insight into the crucial issue of financial protection in health systems. The book analyzes the level and determinants of catastrophic health expenditures among households in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Peru, applying both descriptive and econometric analyses. The results demonstrate that out-of-pocket health spending is pushing large segments of the population into impoverishment and that the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the population are most at risk of financial catastrophe. This work is a product of the collaboration between more than 25 researchers and 18 institutions associated with the Research for Health Financing in Latin America and the Caribbean Network, with support from the International Development Research Centre of Canada.

Keywords: health systems, lower and middle income countries, financial protection, economic ruin, impoverishment, Latin America

Suggested Citation

Knaul, Felicia and Knaul, Felicia and Wong, Rebeca and Arreola-Ornelas, Héctor, Household Spending and Impoverishment (February 1, 2013). Knaul FM, Wong R, Arreola-Ornelas H. (Eds.) Household Spending and Impoverishment. Volume 1 of Financing Health in Latin America Series. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Global Equity Initiative, Mexican Health Foundation, International Development Research Centre, 2013, Dist. by Harvard University Press, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2209256

Felicia Knaul (Contact Author)

Harvard Global Equity Initiative ( email )

FXB Building, Room 632
651 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
United States
(617) 4327938 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k62597&pageid=icb.page268594

Mexican Health Foundation ( email )

Periférico sur 4809, El Arenal Tepepan, Tlalpan
El Arenal Tepepan, Tlalpan
Mexico, D.F., 14610
Mexico
(52) 55 56559011 (Phone)
(52) 55 56559082 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://http//www.funsalud.org.mx

Rebeca Wong

University of Maryland - Maryland Population Research Center ( email )

2103 Art and Sociology Building
College Park, MD 20742
United States
301-405-6395 (Phone)

Héctor Arreola-Ornelas

Fundación Mexicana para la Salud, A.C. ( email )

Periférico sur 4809, El Arenal Tepepan, Tlalpan
México, D.F., 14610
México, 14610

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