Determinants And Distribution Of Catastrophic Health Expenditures And Impoverishment In Kenya

Abstract

The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 guarantees citizen the right to health. The Kenya health policy commits the government to offer easy, accessible, reasonable and valuable health care services to the population countrywide (Republic of Kenya, 2015a). However, the government is faced with budgetary constraints; hence the health services are provided under a serious resource constrained setting. An analysis of patterns of health care expenditure is essential for assessing levels of inequalities in health care needs and access. Furthermore, analyses of differentials on health care expenditure by socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of population could be used to develop appropriate policies and models to new interventions. The research utilized the secondary data from the Kenya Household Health Utilization and Expenditure Survey (KHHEUS) 2013 to examine the association between households’ health care expenditures with socioeconomic variables. The goal of the research was to provide critical analyses on household out-of-pocket expenditures in Kenya and how these health expenditures become catastrophic pushing the households into poverty. The findings will contribute towards a better understanding of existing variations in catastrophic health expenditures and impoverishment in Kenya. These results can be used by the government of Kenya, health planners and managers and other stakeholders to facilitate design of appropriate policies which will impact positively to households and particularly the vulnerable ones. The information could contribute to improving financial protection and equitable income redistribution and eventually towards poverty reduction and better health for all Kenyans.