Is there a stronger willingness to pay for photovoltaic power generation with high education in China?

Adoption of clean electric energy depends not only on administrative regulations, but also on public support, in particular, the public is willing to pay for environmental improvements. However, the increase of solar photovoltaic power generation willingness to pay (WTP) associated with higher education attainment and the identification of their causality has been missing. Present paper used the enactment of the Compulsory Schooling Law as an instrumental variable to solve the causal relationship between education and willingness to pay for photovoltaic power generation. The results are as follows:Heckman two-stage model and instrumental variable both confirmed that higher education has a positive impact on WTP for solar photovoltaic power generation. For each level of public education in the east, the WTP of photovoltaic power generation will increase by 7.540 CNY, 8.343 CNY and 8.343 CNY respectively, the central public will increase by 9.637 CNY, 10.775 CNY and 11.758 CNY, and the western public will increase by 12.723 CNY, 15.740 CNY and 17.993 CNY respectively. The positive influence of education level is smaller among the people who know the ladder price better, but it is bigger among the people who are male, older than 45 years old, healthier, higher income and stronger awareness of safe electricity use. The total socio-economic value of photovoltaic power generation is significantly different in eastern, central and western region China.

Out-of-pocket expenditures associated with double disease burden in Pakistan: a quantile regression analysis.

BACKGROUND: Pakistan is currently experiencing a double burden of disease. Families with members having both communicable and noncommunicable diseases are at a greater risk of impoverishment due to enormous out-of-pocket payments. This study examines the percentile distribution of the determinants of the out-of-pocket expenditure on the double disease burden. METHOD: The study extracted a sample of 6,775 households with at least one member experiencing both communicable and noncommunicable diseases from the Household Integrated Economic Survey 2018-19. The dataset is cross-sectional and nationally representative. Quantile regression was used to analyze the association of various socioeconomic factors with the OOP expenditure associated with double disease burden. RESULTS: Overall, 28.5% of households had double disease in 2018-19. The households with uneducated heads, male heads, outpatient healthcare, patients availing public sector healthcare services, and rural and older members showed a significant association with the prevalence of double disease. The out-of-pocket expenditure was higher for depression, liver and kidney disease, hepatitis, and pneumonia in the upper percentiles. The quantile regression results showed that an increased number of communicable and noncommunicable diseases was associated with higher monthly OOP expenditure in the lower percentiles (10th percentile, coefficient 312, 95% CI: 92-532), and OOP expenditure was less pronounced among the higher percentiles (75th percentile, coefficient 155, 95% CI: 30-270). The households with older members were associated with higher OOP expenditure at higher tails (50th and 75th percentiles) compared to lower (10th and 25th percentiles). Family size was associated with higher OOPE at lower percentiles than higher ones. CONCLUSION: The coexistence of communicable and noncommunicable diseases is associated with excessive private healthcare costs in Pakistan. The results call for addressing the variations in financial costs associated with double diseases.

Exploring the financial burden due to additional mobility among cancer patients: A cross-sectional study based on National Sample Survey.

BACKGROUND: Cancer imposes a substantial economic burden due to treatment costs, supportive care, and loss of productivity. Besides all the affecting factors, major concerns lead to significant financial burdens of cancer treatment, bringing unwanted huge unbearable direct and indirect treatment costs. The aim was to explore the nature of additional mobility/travel required for accessing health care for cancer patients and also to assess financial burden due to additional mobility/travel costs for cancer treatment. METHODS: This study employed unit-level cross-sectional data from the 75th round (2017-18) of India's National Sample Survey (NSS). The primary analysis commenced with descriptive and bivariate analyses to explore mean health spending and out-of-pocket expenses. Subsequently, multivariable logistic regression models were utilized to estimate the associations between catastrophic health expenditure, distress financing, and the treatment location. RESULTS: The findings highlight distinct healthcare utilization patterns: inpatient treatments predominantly occur within the same district (50.4 %), followed by a different district (38.8 %), and a smaller share in other states (10.8 %). Outpatients largely receive treatment in the same district (65.5 %), followed by a different district (26.8 %), and around 8 % percent in other states. Urban areas show higher inpatient visits within the same district (41.8 %) and different districts (33.5 %). Outpatients, particularly those seeking treatment in other states, experience higher total expenditures, notably with higher out-of-pocket expenses. Distress financing is more common among inpatients (20.6 %) and combined inpatient/outpatient cases (23.9 %), while outpatients exhibit a lower rate (6.8 %). CONCLUSION: The findings collectively suggest the importance of developing local healthcare infrastructures to reduce the additional mobility of cancer patients. The policy should focus to train and deploy oncologists in non-urban areas can help bridge the gap in cancer care proficiency and reduce the need for patients to travel long distances for treatment.

From the local disparities to national realities: Mapping and multilevel modeling of catastrophic health expenditure in Bangladesh using HIES 2016.

In developing nations, catastrophic health expenditures have become an all-too-common occurrence, threatening to push households into impoverishment and poverty. By analyzing the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2016, which features a sample of 46,080 households, this study provides a comprehensive district-by-district analysis of the variation in household catastrophic health expenditures and related factors. The study utilizes a multilevel logistic regression model, which considers both fixed and random effects to identify factors associated with catastrophic health expenditure. The findings of the study indicate that districts located in the eastern and southern regions are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing catastrophic health expenditures. A potential explanation for this trend may be attributed to the high prevalence of chronic diseases in these districts, as well as their economic conditions. The presence of chronic diseases (AOR 5.45 with 95% CI: 5.14, 5.77), presence of old age person (AOR 1.50 with 95% CI: 1.39, 1.61), place of residence (AOR 1.40 with 95% CI: 1.14, 1.73) are found to be highly associated factors. Additionally, the study reveals that the thresholds used to define catastrophic health expenditures exhibit substantial variation across different regions, and differ remarkably from the threshold established by the WHO. On average, the thresholds are 23.12% of nonfood expenditure and 12.14% of total expenditure. In light of these findings, this study offers important insights for policymakers and stakeholders working towards achieving universal health coverage and sustainable development goals in Bangladesh.

Valuing life over the life cycle.

Adjusting the valuation of life along the (i) person-specific (age, health, wealth) and (ii) mortality risk-specific (beneficial or detrimental, temporary or permanent changes) dimensions is relevant in prioritizing healthcare interventions. These adjustments are provided by solving a life cycle model of consumption, leisure and health choices and the associated Hicksian variations for mortality changes. The calibrated model yields plausible Values of Life Year between 154K$ and 200K$ and Values of Statistical Life close to 6.0M$. The willingness to pay (WTP) and to accept (WTA) compensation are equal and symmetric for one-shot beneficial and detrimental changes in mortality risk. However, permanent, and expected longevity changes are both associated with larger willingness for gains, relative to losses, and larger WTA than WTP. Ageing lowers both variations via falling resources and health, lower marginal continuation utility of living and decreasing longevity returns of changes in mortality.

Out-of-Pocket Spending and Financial Equity in the Access to Medicines in Latin America: Trends and Challenges: 2010-2020.

There is evidence of persistent inequalities in household financial protection of health and drugs spending in Latin America. Despite the expansion of coverage, strong inequalities persist in access to health and family spending on drugs in the region. Out-of-pocket spending in medicines is regressive in greater need for affordable medicines.

A systematic review of the direct and indirect COVID-19's impact on food security and its dimensions: pre-and post-comparative analysis.

BACKGROUND: Since its emergence, the COVID-19 pandemic has compromised the food security both directly by impacting food supply chain and indirectly by overwhelming the individual health and/or personal financial situation. The overarching aim of the current study is to assess aspects of the food security crisis that have arisen due to COVID-19 and to identify which, if any, food security dimensions were specifically compromised. METHODS: Primary research articles were initially identified through four online databases (Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science), with the references of each paper then also reviewed for additional article. The food security status of individuals and the wider community, both before and after the emergence of COVID-19, were examined. RESULTS: Of the 2,057 studies initially identified, a total of ten were included in the final review. The included studies confirmed that COVID-19 had substantially impacted food security, with individuals, households and the wider community experiencing food insecurity. Nine of the included studies aruged that the food accessibility dimension was the most compromised. CONCLUSION: To address the identified direct and indirect food security issues associated with COVID-19, it is proposed that a combination of prevention practices and proactive food security activities is required. Integrating food security interventions, supporting and facilitating food security resilience, and conducting further studies on the food security of COVID-19 are also recommended.

Laos' Social Health Insurance (SHI) program's impact on older people's accessibility and financial security against catastrophic health expense.

Laos has introduced various SHI schemes for multiple groups of the population, such as government officials and other population groups under the NHI schemes. There is no specific health insurance policy for this group of people who need special health services and may have a higher possibility of entering financial catastrophe. This study aims to assess the impact of SHI schemes on accessibility and financial catastrophe against catastrophic health expenditures for older people in Laos. A structured questionnaire has been used to retrieve information from 400 older people across 39 villages in Kaysone Phomvihane District, Savannakhet province, the largest province in Laos. In the analytical process, this study used a cross-sectional study design and binary logistic regression models to predict the likelihood of accessing health facilities and experiencing financial catastrophe. The study outcome shows that the increase in age, occupation, number of older people within a household, and presence of chronic conditions increase the likelihood of using health services. Despite the existence of various SHI schemes, this study found that 74 out of 165 households reported using health services experienced catastrophic health expenditure. Several characteristics are associated with catastrophic health expenditure: age, income level, and gender are prone to suffer from catastrophic health expenditure. The difficult problems stem from the absence of comprehensive legislation regarding the older population. Recommendations for policymakers in various timeframes have been made, which cover short- and long-term policy proposals, including providing a specialized lane or fast-track for an older population, building health facilities exclusively for older people, and providing transportation services for older individuals living alone.

Gasto de bolsillo en salud en la familia con diabetes-hipertensión durante la pandemia del covid-19 / Out-of-pocket health spending in the family with diabetes-hypertension during the covid-19 pandemic

Determinar el gasto de bolsillo en salud en las familias con diabetes mellitus y/o hipertensión arterial y el porcentaje del ingreso familiar durante la pandemia del Covid-19. Estudio de gasto de bolsillo en salud que incluyó muestreo consecutivo de 268 familias de México. El ingreso trimestral familiar se definió como la suma de ingresos de cada uno de los integrantes de la familia, el gasto en salud se definió como el total de erogaciones que tuvo la familia para cubrir los diferentes servicios de salud, y porcentaje de gasto en salud se definió como la relación del gasto total trimestral y el gasto corriente del hogar, valores expresados en pesos mexicanos. El promedio trimestral del gasto de bolsillo en salud en la familia con diabetes mellitus y/o hipertensión arterial en la dimensión consulta fue $975,82 y en la dimensión medicamentos $1,371.22; el gasto promedio total trimestral fue $3,133.08. El ingreso trimestral de la familia después de la pandemia del covid-19 fue $85,348.86 lo que representa 5,93% menos del ingreso trimestral antes de la pandemia. El gasto trimestral en salud fue $3,133.08, lo cual corresponde a 3,45% y 3,67% del ingreso trimestral familiar antes y después de la pandemia del Covid-19 respectivamente (AU)

Determine out-of-pocket health spending in families with diabetes mellitus and/or high blood pressure and the percentage of family income during the Covid-19 pandemic. Study of out-of-pocket health spending that included consecutive sampling of 268 families in Mexico. The quarterly family income was defined as the sum of income of each of the family members, health spending was defined as the total expenses that the family had to cover the different health services, and percentage of health spending. It was defined as the relationship between total quarterly expenditure and current household expenditure, values expressed in Mexican pesos. The quarterly average of out-of-pocket health expenditure in the family with diabetes mellitus and/or arterial hypertension in the consultation dimension was $975.82 and in the medication dimension $1,371.22; The average total quarterly expense was $3,133.08. The family's quarterly income after the covid-19 pandemic was $85,348.86, which represents 5.93% less than the quarterly income before the pandemic. The quarterly health expenditure was $3,133.08, which corresponds to 3.45% and 3.67% of the family's quarterly income before and after the Covid-19 pandemic respectively (AU)

Hardship financing, productivity loss, and the economic cost of illness and injury in Cambodia.

BACKGROUND: Financial risk protection is a core dimension of universal health coverage. Hardship financing, defined as borrowing and selling land or assets to pay for healthcare, is a measure of last recourse. Increasing indebtedness and high interest rates, particularly among unregulated money lenders, can lead to a vicious cycle of poverty and exacerbate inequity. METHODS: To inform efforts to improve Cambodia's social health protection system we analyze 2019-2020 Cambodia Socio-economic Survey data to assess hardship financing, illness and injury related productivity loss, and estimate related economic impacts. We apply two-stage Instrumental Variable multiple regression to address endogeneity relating to net income. In addition, we calculate a direct economic measure to facilitate the regular monitoring and reporting on the devastating burden of excessive out-of-pocket expenditure for policy makers. RESULTS: More than 98,500 households or 2.7% of the total population resorted to hardship financing over the past year. Factors significantly increasing risk are higher out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures, illness or injury related productivity loss, and spending of savings. The economic burden from annual lost productivity from illness or injury amounts to US$ 459.9 million or 1.7% of GDP. The estimated household economic cost related to hardship financing is US$ 250.8 million or 0.9% of GDP. CONCLUSIONS: Such losses can be mitigated with policy measures such as linking a catastrophic health coverage mechanism to the Health Equity Funds, capping interest rates on health-related loans, and using loan guarantees to incentivize microfinance institutions and banks to refinance health-related, high-interest loans from money lenders. These measures could strengthen social health protection by enhancing financial risk protection, mitigating vulnerability to the devastating economic effects of health shocks, and reducing inequities.

"I'm Not Good with Money" and Other Lies Residents Tell Themselves about Personal Finance.

OBJECTIVES: Some physicians believe that they have difficulty managing their own personal finances, and many medical schools and residences do not have formal financial curricula embedded in education. Given that many medical students have >$200,000 in school loans, physicians are expected to navigate the complex financial world without guidance. METHODS: In this article, the authors developed a personal finance curriculum for Internal Medicine residents with the aim of evaluating the proportion of residents engaging in active personal finance activities, increasing their knowledge of financial literacy and their comfort with personal finance concepts using a pre- and postintervention survey. The content of the curriculum included four modules structured around different financial themes and delivered to trainees in 45-minute sessions. RESULTS: A majority of the residents were able to participate in workplace retirement, log into their retirement account, possessed a Roth individual retirement account, manage a budget, and check their credit score. An area prompting concern postintervention was the level of discomfort engaging with personal finance that disproportionally affected the female trainees more than their male counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: It is likely that an individual's comfort level managing finances stems from money beliefs, rather than actual ability given the requirements to graduate from medical school and the demands of an Internal Medicine residency.

The Economic Cost of Rising Non-communicable Diseases in India: A Systematic Literature Review of Methods and Estimates.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: India has one of the world's highest proportions of out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) payments. The low share of public health expenditure coupled with the double burden of disease (communicable and non-communicable) has a direct financial impact on individual OOPE and an indirect impact in the form of decreasing life expectancy, reduced productivity, and hence a negative impact on economic growth. This systematic review aims to compare and assess the estimated economic cost of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India and ascertain the methods used to derive these estimates. METHODS: This paper reviews the past 12-year (2010-22) literature on the economic impact of health shocks due to NCDs. Three databases were searched for the literature: PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Thematic analysis has been performed to analyse the findings of the study. RESULTS: The OOPE was very high for NCDs. The increasing cost was high and unaffordable, pushing many people into financial distress measured by catastrophic payments and rising impoverishment. CONCLUSION: The results indicate both the direct and indirect impact of NCDs, but the indirect burden of loss of employment and productivity, despite its relevance, has been less studied in the literature. A robust economic analysis will allow an evidence-based policy decision perspective to reduce the rising burden of NCDs.

Out-of-pocket health expenditures in patients living with inborn errors of metabolism.

AIM: The implementation of newborn screening programs for inborn errors of metabolism has advanced the diagnosis and management of affected infants and undoubtedly improved their outcomes. We aimed to determine out-of-pocket health expenditures of patients with inborn errors of metabolism during follow-up and treatment processes and to determine the economic burden on the families. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 232 patients who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study and were regularly followed up in the Department of Pediatric Metabolism with the diagnosis of Inborn Errors of Metabolism between April 2022 and July 2022 were included. Questionnaires were asked about the demographic characteristics of patients, use of health services, follow-up, treatment procedures, frequency of controls and health expenditures. RESULTS: The average out-of-pocket expenditure of the households in the last month was 1039.22 ± 1030.08 (minimum: 20, maximum: 5000) Turkish Liras. When we consider the catastrophic health expenditure rate as expenditure exceeding 40% of household income, we found that 9.9% (23 people) of parents included in the study made catastrophic health expenditures. The rate of catastrophic expenditure of patients with a diagnosis of Amino Acid Metabolism Disorders was found to be higher than that of patients with a diagnosis of Vitamin and Cofactor Metabolism Disorders. Similarly, patients with a diagnosis of lysosomal storage diseases had more expenditures than patients with a diagnosis of vitamin and cofactor metabolism disorders. When we compared the rate of catastrophic health expenditure of the patients with urea cycle disorders and the patients with a diagnosis of vitamin and cofactor metabolism disorders, the former had more expenditure than the latter (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between other disease groups in terms of catastrophic expenditure. The rate of catastrophic expenditures of the households living as large family type were higher than the families living as nuclear family type (p < 0.01). A statistically significant difference was found between the rates of catastrophic expenditures of the families living in Ankara and those who were admitted from other provinces for follow-up and treatment (p < 0.001). However, there was no difference between the rates of catastrophic expenditure of the patients who received any treatment and those who were followed up without treatment (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Due to the high rate of consanguineous marriages in our country, the development of newborn screening programs, the increase in awareness about metabolic diseases and the improvement in diagnostic methods, the frequency of metabolic diseases is increasing, and mortality and morbidity rates are significantly reduced with early diagnosis and treatment opportunities. It is necessary to carry out more comprehensive studies to determine and prevent the socioeconomic effects of out-of-pocket health expenditures of patients living with Inborn Errors of Metabolism.

A five-year (2017-2021) time series evaluation of patient-reported informal healthcare payments in Romania.

Low wages of health professionals are widely recognized as one of the drivers of informal payments in Romania's healthcare system. In January 2018, the government increased wages by an average of 70% to 172% in the public healthcare sector. This study examined the trends in patient-reported informal healthcare payments, discussing the effect of a one-time wage increase in 2018 and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. It draws on monthly survey data of patient-reported informal payments collected between January 2017 and December 2021. We analyzed three periods: before the wage rise ("low pay"), between the wage rise and the COVID-19 pandemic ("high pay"), and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that patient-reported informal payments decreased between the "low pay" and "high pay" period but with a sharper decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. The share of respondents willing to report informal payments increased during the "high pay" period, indicating a stronger willingness to voice dissatisfaction with health services and informal payments, but slowed down during the first lockdown in 2020. Informal payments were more frequently reported in larger hospitals and the poorest geographical areas. While the 2018 wage increase may have contributed to less prevalent informal payments, survey coverage and design must be improved to draw robust, system-level conclusions to inform tailored policy actions.

Catastrophic health-care payments and multidimensional poverty: Are they related?

The negative impact of health-related out-of-pocket (OOP) payments is a well-known problem in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Cross-sectional analysis reveals that households use different coping mechanisms to mitigate or overcome the effect of OOP payments, but little is known from a longitudinal perspective. We explore this link using panel data for Colombia, Mexico, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, and Tanzania. Using a fixed-effect model, we computed the association between multidimensional poverty (MP) and facing catastrophic health payments (CHP) using a capacity-to-pay approach. We estimated different heterogeneous effects, including variables such as area of residence, facing CHP, being poor in the first wave, and facing CHP in period two. While using cross-sectional data, we found that the association between CHP and MP is present for six of the seven countries; it is not the case for the time variation in most of them. The results provide evidence that OOP induce a long-term impact on MP only in Colombia, India and Nigeria. In the last two countries, the levels of poverty and CHP were the highest of all seven, and the association between both situations was found by using different poverty cutoffs and thresholds to define CHP.

Personalized Financial Planning Using Applied Genetics.

Forthcoming advances in geroscience will influence the health span of current and future generations and generate both challenges and opportunities for those approaching or reaching retirement ages. The resulting changes in the life course will influence those reaching stages in life that are commonly associated with retirement. How people plan for that later phase of life is critical-especially given that current approaches to planning are either nonexistent or outdated. In this review, we show how advances in applied genetics can yield valuable information for individuals that are facing the challenges and opportunities that will accompany anticipated advances in geroscience and their unique influence on the life span and health span of current and future generations.

The impact of public health expenditure and gross domestic product per capita on the risk of catastrophic health expenditures for OECD countries.

Introduction: Catastrophic health expenditure refers to situations where households face financial ruin due to high healthcare costs. For household spending on health services, the lack of pre-payment mechanisms to equalize the low payment capacity and risk, and the inability of countries' health financing systems to fulfill their duties adequately all contribute to the creation or increase of the risk of catastrophic health expenditure. This situation has devastating effects on poor households first, but if the prevention mechanisms are insouciant, it can threaten the health system of the entire country. The research aims to assess the impact of the pre-paid financing model implementations and income levels on the ability of countries to reduce the risk of catastrophic health expenditure. Methods: The paragraph explains the data used in the study, which is taken from OECD countries between 2003 and 2019. It also mentions the statistical models used in the study, which are static and dynamic panel regression models. Results: The findings indicate that pre-paid financing models, such as those based on taxation, can help reduce the risk of catastrophic health expenditure. The study also reveals that income levels play a role in this regard, with countries with higher incomes being better able to reduce the risk of catastrophic health expenditure. Discussion: The study suggests that healthcare financing systems should aim to provide effective services and financial protection to improve universal health coverage and reduce the risk of catastrophic health expenditure. Further researches using different health indicators and inputs could add to the existing literature on how to limit catastrophic health expenses and address other related questions.

Implementation of Systematic Financial Screening in an Outpatient Breast Oncology Setting.

PURPOSE: Implementation of routine financial screening is a critical step toward mitigating financial toxicity. We evaluated the feasibility, sustainability, and acceptability of systematic financial screening in the outpatient breast oncology clinic at a large, urban cancer center. METHODS: We developed and implemented a stakeholder-informed process to systematically screen for financial hardship and worry. A 2-item assessment in English or Spanish was administered to patients through the electronic medical record portal or using paper forms. We evaluated completion rates and mode of completion. Through feedback from patients, clinicians, and staff, we identified strategies to improve completion rates and acceptability. RESULTS: From March, 2021, to February, 2022, 3,500 patients were seen in the breast oncology clinic. Of them, 39% (n = 1,349) responded to the screening items, either by paper or portal, 12% (n = 437) preferred not to answer, and the remaining 49% (n = 1,714) did not have data in their electronic health record, meaning they were not offered screening or did not complete the paper forms. Young adults (18-39 years) were more likely to respond compared with patients 70 years or older (61% v 30%, P < .01). English-preferring patients were more likely to complete the screening compared with those who preferred Spanish (46% v 28%, P < .01). Non-Hispanic White patients were more likely to respond compared with Non-Hispanic Black patients and with Hispanic patients (46% v 39% v 32%, P < .01). Strategies to improve completion rates included partnering with staff to facilitate paper form administration, optimizing patient engagement with the portal, and clearly communicating the purpose of the screening. CONCLUSION: Systematic financial screening is feasible, and electronic data capture facilitates successful implementation. However, inclusive procedures that address language and technology preferences are needed to optimize screening.