Health insurance in Myanmar:  Knowledge, perceptions, and preferences of Social Security Scheme members and general adult population

C.-Y. Myint; M. Pavlova; W. Groot

doi:10.1002/hpm.2643

Health insurance in Myanmar: Knowledge, perceptions, and preferences of Social Security Scheme members and general adult population

C.-Y. Myint^*, M. Pavlova, W. Groot

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Our study explores the knowledge, perceptions, willingness to pay, and preferences of potential health insurance beneficiaries about health insurance in Myanmar. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were collected among two samples: the general population and Social Security Scheme (SSS) member. Mann-Whitney U test and independent sample t test were applied to compare the two samples. The data on willingness to pay for health insurance were analyzed using regression analysis. Results: Low level of knowledge and weak positive perception are found in both samples. More than 90% of the SSS sample and 75% of the general sample are willing to pay health insurance premiums. The largest shares of both samples are willing to pay for monthly premiums between 2000 and 4000 MMK (1.8-3.6 USD). Health status, age, gender, income, and trust are significantly associated with willingness to pay for health insurance among general sample while occupation, civil status, income, and positive perception on prepayment principle are found among SSS sample. Conclusions: The government of Myanmar should be aware of the preferences of beneficiaries to pay a relatively low level of monthly health insurance premiums without co‐payment.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	346-369
Number of pages	24
Journal	International Journal of Health Planning and Management
Volume	34
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.2643
Publication status	Published - 2019

JEL classifications

i13 - Health Insurance, Public and Private

Keywords

ability to pay
health insurance
social security
willingness to pay
adult
article
case report
clinical article
female
gender
government
health status
human
male
Myanmar
occupation
perception
population
rank sum test
regression analysis
trust

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10.1002/hpm.2643Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

@article{5f36a08c969c46d78b990f61d4b356d4,

title = "Health insurance in Myanmar: Knowledge, perceptions, and preferences of Social Security Scheme members and general adult population",

abstract = "Our study explores the knowledge, perceptions, willingness to pay, and preferences of potential health insurance beneficiaries about health insurance in Myanmar. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were collected among two samples: the general population and Social Security Scheme (SSS) member. Mann-Whitney U test and independent sample t test were applied to compare the two samples. The data on willingness to pay for health insurance were analyzed using regression analysis. Results: Low level of knowledge and weak positive perception are found in both samples. More than 90% of the SSS sample and 75% of the general sample are willing to pay health insurance premiums. The largest shares of both samples are willing to pay for monthly premiums between 2000 and 4000 MMK (1.8-3.6 USD). Health status, age, gender, income, and trust are significantly associated with willingness to pay for health insurance among general sample while occupation, civil status, income, and positive perception on prepayment principle are found among SSS sample. Conclusions: The government of Myanmar should be aware of the preferences of beneficiaries to pay a relatively low level of monthly health insurance premiums without co‐payment.",

keywords = "ability to pay, health insurance, social security, willingness to pay, adult, article, case report, clinical article, female, gender, government, health status, human, male, Myanmar, occupation, perception, population, rank sum test, regression analysis, trust",

author = "C.-Y. Myint and M. Pavlova and W. Groot",

note = "Funding Information: • This survey is part of an international research project at the Maastricht University, the Netherlands and funded by the NUFFIC. NUFFIC (the Dutch organization for internationalization of higher education) has awarded six Netherlands Fellowship Programme PhD grants to Maastricht University, four of which to the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. The Nuffic grant is a Dutch scholarship programme intended for mid‐career professionals, originating from developing countries, who wish to carry out PhD research projects in the Netherlands. Funding Information: Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP), Grant/Award Numbers: NUFFIC grant ‐ NFP‐ PHD 14/15/0007 and NFP‐PHD 14/15/0007 Funding Information: The authors received funding from Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) NUFFIC grant—NFP‐PHD 14/15/ 0007. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments that greatly contributed to enhancing the quality of this manuscript. The authors have no financial, personal, or other relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence to this study. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 The Authors The International Journal of Health Planning and Management Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd",

year = "2019",

doi = "10.1002/hpm.2643",

language = "English",

volume = "34",

pages = "346--369",

journal = "International Journal of Health Planning and Management",

issn = "0749-6753",

publisher = "John Wiley & Sons Inc.",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Health insurance in Myanmar

T2 - Knowledge, perceptions, and preferences of Social Security Scheme members and general adult population

AU - Myint, C.-Y.

AU - Pavlova, M.

AU - Groot, W.

N1 - Funding Information: • This survey is part of an international research project at the Maastricht University, the Netherlands and funded by the NUFFIC. NUFFIC (the Dutch organization for internationalization of higher education) has awarded six Netherlands Fellowship Programme PhD grants to Maastricht University, four of which to the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. The Nuffic grant is a Dutch scholarship programme intended for mid‐career professionals, originating from developing countries, who wish to carry out PhD research projects in the Netherlands. Funding Information: Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP), Grant/Award Numbers: NUFFIC grant ‐ NFP‐ PHD 14/15/0007 and NFP‐PHD 14/15/0007 Funding Information: The authors received funding from Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) NUFFIC grant—NFP‐PHD 14/15/ 0007. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments that greatly contributed to enhancing the quality of this manuscript. The authors have no financial, personal, or other relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence to this study. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 The Authors The International Journal of Health Planning and Management Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Our study explores the knowledge, perceptions, willingness to pay, and preferences of potential health insurance beneficiaries about health insurance in Myanmar. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were collected among two samples: the general population and Social Security Scheme (SSS) member. Mann-Whitney U test and independent sample t test were applied to compare the two samples. The data on willingness to pay for health insurance were analyzed using regression analysis. Results: Low level of knowledge and weak positive perception are found in both samples. More than 90% of the SSS sample and 75% of the general sample are willing to pay health insurance premiums. The largest shares of both samples are willing to pay for monthly premiums between 2000 and 4000 MMK (1.8-3.6 USD). Health status, age, gender, income, and trust are significantly associated with willingness to pay for health insurance among general sample while occupation, civil status, income, and positive perception on prepayment principle are found among SSS sample. Conclusions: The government of Myanmar should be aware of the preferences of beneficiaries to pay a relatively low level of monthly health insurance premiums without co‐payment.

AB - Our study explores the knowledge, perceptions, willingness to pay, and preferences of potential health insurance beneficiaries about health insurance in Myanmar. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were collected among two samples: the general population and Social Security Scheme (SSS) member. Mann-Whitney U test and independent sample t test were applied to compare the two samples. The data on willingness to pay for health insurance were analyzed using regression analysis. Results: Low level of knowledge and weak positive perception are found in both samples. More than 90% of the SSS sample and 75% of the general sample are willing to pay health insurance premiums. The largest shares of both samples are willing to pay for monthly premiums between 2000 and 4000 MMK (1.8-3.6 USD). Health status, age, gender, income, and trust are significantly associated with willingness to pay for health insurance among general sample while occupation, civil status, income, and positive perception on prepayment principle are found among SSS sample. Conclusions: The government of Myanmar should be aware of the preferences of beneficiaries to pay a relatively low level of monthly health insurance premiums without co‐payment.

KW - ability to pay

KW - health insurance

KW - social security

KW - willingness to pay

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KW - article

KW - case report

KW - clinical article

KW - female

KW - gender

KW - government

KW - health status

KW - human

KW - male

KW - Myanmar

KW - occupation

KW - perception

KW - population

KW - rank sum test

KW - regression analysis

KW - trust

U2 - 10.1002/hpm.2643

DO - 10.1002/hpm.2643

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SN - 0749-6753

VL - 34

SP - 346

EP - 369

JO - International Journal of Health Planning and Management

JF - International Journal of Health Planning and Management

IS - 1

ER -