The revenue generating potential of user fees in Kenyan government health facilities

User Charges for Health Care: A Review of the Underlying Theory and Assumptions

“…The most well known and widely discussed econometric estimates of price responsiveness of health care demand for a developing country were reported in the mid 1980s for the Philippines, which were quickly followed by a number of similar studies (see e.g., Akin et al 1985Akin et al , 1986Dor et al 1987;Ellis 1987;Gertler et al 1987;Schwartz et al 1988). The Philippines study showed that the elasticity of medical care demand with respect to user charges was substantially less than unity.…”

“…Second, because of certain regulatory constraints, the facilities could not use public insurance funds to provide better services. Third, it took considerable time to set up financial management systems at health facilities, a prerequisite for an effective use of the fee revenue retained at the health facilities (Ellis 1987;Collins et al 1996). The quality of health services improved only in a limited number of cases in Sub-Saharan Africa following the implementation of user charges (see e.g., Wouters 1991;Creese and Kutzin 1995).…”

User Charges for Health Care: A Review of the Underlying Theory and Assumptions

“…The most well known and widely discussed econometric estimates of price responsiveness of health care demand for a developing country were reported in the mid 1980s for the Philippines, which were quickly followed by a number of similar studies (see e.g., Akin et al 1985Akin et al , 1986Dor et al 1987;Ellis 1987;Gertler et al 1987;Schwartz et al 1988). The Philippines study showed that the elasticity of medical care demand with respect to user charges was substantially less than unity.…”

“…Second, because of certain regulatory constraints, the facilities could not use public insurance funds to provide better services. Third, it took considerable time to set up financial management systems at health facilities, a prerequisite for an effective use of the fee revenue retained at the health facilities (Ellis 1987;Collins et al 1996). The quality of health services improved only in a limited number of cases in Sub-Saharan Africa following the implementation of user charges (see e.g., Wouters 1991;Creese and Kutzin 1995).…”

Measuring the impact of SMS-based interventions on uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision in Zambia

“…The effects of user fees are amplified by poverty on the demand side and negatively affect quality of care on the supply side (McIntyre et al 2006). Proponents of user fees have argued that user charges can generate vital resources at the local level and help provide good-quality services (Ellis 1987;Litvack and Bodart 1993). Although facilities may benefit from the income generated by user fees, evidence shows that user fees only raise an average of 5-7 per cent of health sector recurrent expenditures at the national level (Gilson 1997).…”

User Charges for Health Care: A Review of the Underlying Theory and Assumptions

“…The most well known and widely discussed econometric estimates of price responsiveness of health care demand for a developing country were reported in the mid 1980s for the Philippines, which were quickly followed by a number of similar studies (see e.g., Akin et al 1985Akin et al , 1986Dor et al 1987;Ellis 1987;Gertler et al 1987;Schwartz et al 1988). The Philippines study showed that the elasticity of medical care demand with respect to user charges was substantially less than unity.…”

“…Second, because of certain regulatory constraints, the facilities could not use public insurance funds to provide better services. Third, it took considerable time to set up financial management systems at health facilities, a prerequisite for an effective use of the fee revenue retained at the health facilities (Ellis 1987;Collins et al 1996). The quality of health services improved only in a limited number of cases in Sub-Saharan Africa following the implementation of user charges (see e.g., Wouters 1991;Creese and Kutzin 1995).…”

Measuring the impact of SMS-based interventions on uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision in Zambia

“…The effects of user fees are amplified by poverty on the demand side and negatively affect quality of care on the supply side (McIntyre et al 2006). Proponents of user fees have argued that user charges can generate vital resources at the local level and help provide good-quality services (Ellis 1987;Litvack and Bodart 1993). Although facilities may benefit from the income generated by user fees, evidence shows that user fees only raise an average of 5-7 per cent of health sector recurrent expenditures at the national level (Gilson 1997).…”

User Charges for Health Care: A Review of the Underlying Theory and Assumptions

“…The most well known and widely discussed econometric estimates of price responsiveness of health care demand for a developing country were reported in the mid 1980s for the Philippines, which were quickly followed by a number of similar studies (see e.g., Akin et al 1985Akin et al , 1986Dor et al 1987;Ellis 1987;Gertler et al 1987;Schwartz et al 1988). The Philippines study showed that the elasticity of medical care demand with respect to user charges was substantially less than unity.…”

“…Second, because of certain regulatory constraints, the facilities could not use public insurance funds to provide better services. Third, it took considerable time to set up financial management systems at health facilities, a prerequisite for an effective use of the fee revenue retained at the health facilities (Ellis 1987;Collins et al 1996). The quality of health services improved only in a limited number of cases in Sub-Saharan Africa following the implementation of user charges (see e.g., Wouters 1991;Creese and Kutzin 1995).…”

Measuring the impact of SMS-based interventions on uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision in Zambia

“…The effects of user fees are amplified by poverty on the demand side and negatively affect quality of care on the supply side (McIntyre et al 2006). Proponents of user fees have argued that user charges can generate vital resources at the local level and help provide good-quality services (Ellis 1987;Litvack and Bodart 1993). Although facilities may benefit from the income generated by user fees, evidence shows that user fees only raise an average of 5-7 per cent of health sector recurrent expenditures at the national level (Gilson 1997).…”