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Estimating rural households’ willingness to pay for health insurance

The European Journal of Health Economics, formerly: HEPAC volume 5, pages 209–215 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

In many developing countries limited health budgets are a serious problem. Innovative ways to raise funds for the provision of health services, for example, through health care insurance, have a high priority. Health care insurance for rural households shields such patients from unexpected high costs of care. However, there are questions about whether, and how much, rural households are willing to pay to purchase such insurance, as well as the factors determining willingness to pay. In recent years the Iranian government has tried to improve health and medical services to rural areas through a health insurance program. This study was conducted to estimate rural households’ demand and willingness to pay for health insurance. A contingent valuation method (CVM) was applied using an iterative bidding game technique. Data has been collected from a sample of 2,139 households across the country.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the Health Care Insurance Organization of Iran and was carried out at the Economic Research Institute at Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

Conflict of interest:

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Author notes

  1. Ali Asgary

    Present address: Department of Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies, Faculty of Science, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, R7A 6A9, Canada

Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

    Ali Asgary

  2. School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape , University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Ken Willis

  3. Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran

    Ali Akbar Taghvaei & Mojtaba Rafeian

Authors
  1. Ali Asgary
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  2. Ken Willis
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  3. Ali Akbar Taghvaei
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  4. Mojtaba Rafeian
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ali Asgary.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

The first IBG group questions were:

  • Suppose that an insurance company would pay 70% of medical care and 90% of hospital expenses for you and your family.

    • Would you be willing to pay 5000 rials per month for this health insurance? (Yes/no)

    • Would you be willing to pay 10,000 rials? (Yes/no)

    • Would you be willing to pay 15,000 rials? (Yes/no)

    • Would you be willing to pay 25,000 rials? (Yes/no)

In the second IBG group the insurance fees ranged from 20,000 to 40,000 rials per month.

  • Suppose that an insurance company would pay 70% of medical care and 90% of hospital expenses for you and your family.

    • Would you be willing to pay 20,000 rials per month for this health insurance? (Yes/no)

    • Would you be willing to pay 25,000 rials? (Yes/no)

    • Would you be willing to pay 30,000 rials? (Yes/no)

    • Would you be willing to pay 40,000 rials? (Yes/no)

In the third IBG group the insurance fees ranged from 35,000 to 50,000 rials per month:

  • Suppose that an insurance company would pay 70% of medical care and 90% of hospital expenses for you and your family.

    • Would you be willing to pay 35,000 rials per month for this health insurance? (Yes (continue)/no)

    • Would you be willing to pay 40,000 rials? (Yes/no)

    • Would you be willing to pay 45,000 rials? (Yes/no)

    • Would you be willing to pay 50,000 rials? (Yes/no)

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Asgary, A., Willis, K., Taghvaei, A.A. et al. Estimating rural households’ willingness to pay for health insurance. Eur J Health Econom 5, 209–215 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-004-0233-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-004-0233-6

Keywords

  • Health insurance
  • Contingent valuation method
  • Iran, rural health
  • Willingness to pay