11. State Health Insurance and Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditures in Andhra Pradesh, India
- Author:
- Victoria Fan, Anup Karan, and Ajay Mahal
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- In 2007, the state of Andhra Pradesh in southern India began rolling out the Aarogyasri health insurance to reduce catastrophic health expenditures in households “below the poverty line.” We exploit variation in program roll-out over time and districts to evaluate the impacts of the scheme using difference-in-differences. Our results suggest that, within the first year of implementation, Phase I of Aarogyasri significantly reduced out-of-pocket inpatient expenditures and, to a lesser extent, outpatient expenditures. These results are robust to checks using quantile regression and matching methods. No clear effects on catastrophic health expenditures or medical impoverishment are seen. Aarogyasri is not benefiting scheduled caste and scheduled tribe households as much as the rest of the population.
- Topic:
- Health, Poverty, and Health Care Policy
- Political Geography:
- India, Asia, and Andhra Pradesh