Ageing in India: Financial hardship from health expenditures

Abstract

India's rapidly ageing population raises concerns about the burden of health care payments among older individuals who may have both limited income and greater health care needs. Using a nationally representative household survey, we investigate the association between age and financial hardship due to health expenditures. We find that both the probability of experiencing health problems and mean total out-of-pocket health expenditures increase with age. Second, the probability of households experiencing catastrophic health expenditures increases with each additional member aged 60 and above-33% of households with one 60+ member and 38% of households with 2 or more 60+ members experienced catastrophic health expenditures, compared to only 20% in households with all members under the age of 60 years. Lastly, we show that individuals aged 60 and above had a much higher probability of becoming impoverished as a result of health expenditures-the probability of impoverishment for 60+ individuals was 3 percentage points higher than for individuals under the age of 60. Overall, around 4.8% of the older population, representing 4.1 million people, fell into poverty. The results suggest that there is an urgent need for public investments in financial protection programs for older people in India.

Magnitude and determinants of inpatient health expenditure among the elderly in India

“…Comparing the result of the present study with the past studies we found that inpatient health expenditure incurred by the elderly also escalates over time. Using NSS 71st round data, a study found 49 that the mean inpatient expenditure incurred by older adults (80–89 years) is almost INR 3497 in 2014, whereas the present study estimated that the mean combined inpatient expenditure (private + public) for a single episode of illness is nearly INR 12,050 indicating an almost threefold increase in inpatient health expenditure incurred by elderly, especially the oldest‐old group, over 4 years.…”

“…Comparing the result of the present study with the past studies we found that inpatient health expenditure incurred by the elderly also escalates over time. Using NSS 71st round data, a study found 49 Hence there is no doubt that the ageing population should be protected against impoverishment due to healthcare expenditure. In this context, it is worth mentioning that the National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE) happens to be the only comprehensive healthcare programme introduced for the elderly in India.…”

Evaluating inconsistency in health responses: evidence from elderly in India

“…Following Sen’s theory, the present study attempts to empirically test the role of social position in determining the difference between SRH and actual health status among the elderly individuals (60 years and above) of India. Old health burden not only increases in the advanced ages (Lee et al , 2018) in India. The majority of the country's aged people experience deprivation (Chambers, 1995) and intensive old-age impoverishment (Pal and Palacios, 2011).…”

Is China facing the social risks associated with reliance on hospitalization for the care of the elderly with chronic diseases?

“…Ageing populations have become the largest group of patients occupying hospital beds in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and even in a few Latin American countries . Apart from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, and Taiwan are facing the phenomenon. However, the phenomenon is uncommon among other Asian countries because of their less developed economies and imperfect medical insurance systems.…”