Study on Health Financing in Rajasthan

Agency : Government of Rajasthan, European Commission, Rajasthan

A set of studies on Health Financing was carried out by the Institute as a part of the European Commission supported Health and Family Welfare Sector Investment Programme, which is currently being implemented in Rajasthan with a focus on the state level policy and district level operational reforms. The purpose of the study was to help the government in taking an informed decision regarding an alternative mechanism of financing health care in the State.

The study attempted to explore three areas:

Study 1: To conduct a study on people's ability and their willingness to pay for health services Study 2: To determine the cost of major surgeries and some other services to be offered to clients as a package of services Study 3: To estimate the cost of providing free services to all public sector clients

Study 1 was carried out in three districts of the State, representing the desert, tribal and the plains, viz, Barmer, Banswara and Jaipur. A total of 400 households were covered in each of these districts. The findings that emerged were: Utilisation of health care facilities was heavily biased towards private sources and health care delivery services were not adequately poverty-focused; drugs and medicines absorbed a major share of out-of-pocket expenses; dominance of informal providers in birth delivery services in rural areas; lack of protection against catastrophic health expenses; and lack of an alternative financing mechanism. In Study 2 estimation of the cost of surgical services was carried out in the District Hospital, Shrimati Rukhmani Devi Jaipuria, Hospital, Jaipur, Community Health Centre, Y.N. Government Hospital, Kishangarh, Ajmer, and Soni Hospital, Jaipur, a private hospital. Study-3 was based on the information generated from the first two studies and the current evidences from the literature.


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