The impact of inequality on the financing of household health costs

Lack of financial protection in health is known as a disease of health systems. Households suffer not only from the burden of disease but also from the burden caused by the destruction and economic poverty, in other words, facing back-breaking costs and poverty caused by financing their health. The aim of the current research is to investigate the impact of different dimensions of inequality on the financial financing of household health.

This is a descriptive, cross-sectional, and applied study, which examines the impact of inequality on the financing of household health expenses. The research tool is the financing inequality questionnaire (2008) by Saito. All out-of-pocket costs related to inpatient care, outpatient care, diagnostic tests, and medical expenses due to illness have been estimated for one year. Experts have confirmed validity and reliability.

The dimensions of inequality among households in Tehran are higher than the average (1.329), which has a significant impact on the financing of household health expenses. The direct effect of justice on the financing of household health expenses is rejected. With the increase in the back-breaking cost, equal opportunity, economic status, insurance coverage, and financing of household health expenses increases. According to P<0.001 and P=0.005, the age of the head of the household is not related to justice and gender in the financing of household health expenses.

There is a direct relationship between back-breaking expenses, equal opportunity, economic status, insurance coverage, and financing of household health expenses.