The Effect of Health Care Financing on Income Distribution in Iran: 2008- 2010

Inequality in income distribution leads to the incidence of poverty and increase of the gap between social classes. Evidences suggest that policymakers in many developed and developing countries are concerned about the effects of health care financing on income distribution. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of paying for health care on the distribution of income in rural and urban households in Iran. This descriptive- analytical, retrospective study was composed of a 3-year time series. Data were collected from the household income and expenditure survey of the Statistical Centre of Iran. To measure the inequality in the distribution of resources, Lorenze Curve and Gini index estimations were used. Data were analyzed using Stata11 software. Gini coefficient for prepayment income, for the years 2008 to 2011, was respectively 0.367, 0.348 and 0.369 for urban households and 0.404, 0.362, 0.396, for rural households. The values of this index for post payment income in urban households were 0.300, 0.286 and 0.302 and 0.324, 0.300, 0.320 for rural households respectively. According to the results, paying for health care services has led to a significant reduction in the Gini coefficient and increase of equity. The results showed that paying for health care had a significant relationship with income distribution; it means that paying for health care and households’ contribution in health care financing reduced the Gini coefficient and improved income distribution.