Households Encountering with Catastrophic Health Expenditures in Qazvin, Iran

Direct cash payments are the principal sources of health care finance in most countries. Health services may impose a regressive cost burden on households، especially in developing countries. The purpose of this study was to calculate households encountered with catastrophic healthcare expenditures in Qazvin، Iran. The statistical society included 100 household equaled to 416 people. The data were collected using self-administered questionnaire. The capacity to pay of households was calculated by two methods. If the costs of household health were ≥ 40% of their capacity for payment، it would be considered as catastrophic expenditures. According to the findings، the rate of confronting households with health catastrophic expenditures had been estimated 24%، which dentistry services had the highest part in health catastrophic expenditures. Low capacity to pay families should be supported against these expenditures and more financial aid should be provided for them.