Publication: Government Spending on Health in Lao PDR : Evidence and Issues
Date
2012-12
ISSN
Published
2012-12
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
The note analyzes overall trends in
government health financing and expenditure patterns and
discusses some of the efficiency and equity issues
pertaining to current government health spending patterns.
The policy note is one of a series of health financing
analyses, complementing earlier policy notes focusing on
out-of-pocket spending as well as community-based and social
health insurance schemes in the country. This reliance on
out-of-pocket payments represents a considerable financial
barrier to utilization of health services. The prominence of
out-of-pocket spending in the form of user fees and
revolving drug funds (RDFs) also raises concerns over
management of funds at health facility level and regarding
the potential for over prescription. In contrast, social
health insurance expenditures are very low in Lao PDR:
social insurance schemes cover about 11.4 percent of the
population but account for only about 2.8 percent of total
health spending. The Lao government has committed to
increasing government spending to 9 percent of the budget,
implying roughly a three-fold rise compared to plan spending
for fiscal year 2011/12. If the policy goal is to raise
government health spending equitably across the provinces,
achieving it will be challenging. The overall economic
outlook for Lao PDR is positive. Economic growth is
projected to be 8.3 percent in 2012, and is expected to be
in the range of 7-8 percent over the period 2013-2015. This
note is one of a series of complementary health financing
analyses on out-of-pocket spending and community-based and
social health insurance schemes in the country. Additional
analytical work in progress will review and assess
demand-side pilot interventions currently being initiated by
the government, such as the national free maternal and child
health policy and the conditional cash transfer pilot.
Citation
“World Bank. 2012. Government Spending on Health in Lao PDR : Evidence and Issues. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/5a6c556a-4689-59a8-a992-6d38f1472441 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”