The role of universal health insurance coverage and health systems performance in the Philippines

• Main Authors: Lavado, Rouselle F., Lagrada, Leizel P., Gozun, Brian C.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: Public health administration—Philippines; Health insurance—Philippines—Finance; Medicine and Health; Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation; Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/7296
• Institution: De La Salle University

This paper examines the performance of public health unites in terms of efficiency in the delivery of quality health services and assesses how universal health insurance coverage can drastically improve the health and well-being of Filipinos. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to evaluate the efficiency of public health units in the delivery of health services and a quantitative comparison of the current (low) health insurance coverage scenario vis-à-vis universal health insurance coverage scenario follows. The data for the preliminary findings are taken from the Department of Health and the Department of Finance. In order to come up with an assessment of efficient municipalities, DEA needs inputs and outputs in the model. Inputs for the study include the number of doctors, midwives, nurses, community health workers, community health stations and percentage of people who are not poor while the output of the study relies on the percentage of children who are not underweight. After applying the model, only 11 out of 48 (a measly 23%) municipalities were considered efficient in the delivery of health services given their resources. This study has not only shown the importance of DEA in analyzing the efficiency of delivery of public health services but it has also pinpointed the efficient municipalities which can be used in benchmarking. The results can be used as tools for health policy makers and practitioners in improving the accountability of health units in the utilization of their resources. The next step focuses on how insurance coverage affects the total efficiency of health units. It is hypothesized that universal health insurance coverage would lead to higher levels of efficiency in the delivery of health care services espousing the need to push for universal insurance coverage.