Household financial contribution to the health System in Shiraz, Iran in 2012.

BACKGROUND: One common challenge to social systems is achieving equity in financial contributions and preventing financial loss. Because of the large and unpredictable nature of some costs, achieving this goal in the health system presents important and unique problems. The present study investigated the Household Financial Contributions (HFCs) to the health system.

METHODS: The study investigated 800 households in Shiraz. The study sample size was selected using stratified sampling and cluster sampling in the urban and rural regions, respectively. The data was collected using the household section of the World Health Survey (WHS) questionnaire. Catastrophic health expenditures were calculated based on the ability of the household to pay and the reasons for the catastrophic health expenditures by a household were specified using logistic regression.

RESULTS: The results showed that the fairness financial contribution index was 0.6 and that 14.2% of households were faced with catastrophic health expenditures. Logistic regression analysis revealed that household economic status, the basic and supplementary insurance status of the head of the household, existence of individuals in the household who require chronic medical care, use of dental and hospital care, rural location of residences, frequency of use of outpatient services, and Out-of-Pocket (OOP) payment for physician visits were effective factors for determining the likelihood of experiencing catastrophic health expenditure.

CONCLUSION: It appears that the current method of health financing in Iran does not adequately protect households against catastrophic health expenditure. Consequently, it is essential to reform healthcare financing.