Abstract:
Abstract
Background: Social Health Insurance is a form of financing and managing healthcare
based on risk pooling to provide quality and sustainable universal healthcare coverage.
Ethiopia is currently introducing social health insurance to achieve universal health care
coverage and to prevent catastrophic effect. But there is no evidence concerning
willingness to pay among Government-owned companies’ employees. Therefore, this
study aimed to assessed willingness to pay for social health insurance and associated
factors among Government-owned companies’ employees in Gondar town, Northwest
Ethiopia, 2019.
Methods: - An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted from February to
April/2019 in Gondar town. A randomly selected 541 government owned companies’
employees were used by self-administered structured questionnaire. Descriptive
statistics and binary logistic regression analysis were performed. In the multivariable
logistic regression analysis significant level at p value <0.05 and AOR with 95%
confidence interval was used to declare the associated factors.
Results: The level of willingness to pay for social health insurance was 32% (95% CI:
27.7-36.2). Self-perceived health status (AOR: 8.55, 95% CI: 2.69-27.13), heard about
social health insurance (AOR: 1.69, 95 % CI: 1.12-2.54), coverage of medical health
care cost (AOR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.39-0.92), work experience (AOR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.260.89)
and
quality
of
health
care
service
(AOR:
0.17,
95%CI:
0.04-0.71)
were
significant
associated
factors
willingness
to
pay
for
social
health
insurance.
Conclusion: One third of the study participants were willing to pay for the social health
insurance scheme, but most of study participants were not willingness to pay the
proposed social health insurance scheme. Significant variable were self-perceived
health status, quality of healthcare service, organizations which cover medical cost,
heard about social health insurance and work experience. Policymakers should devise
a plan to promote willingness to pay for social health insurance.
Keywords: Social health insurance, willingness to pay, Government owned companies,
Gondar, Ethiopia
