The Center for Global Development and The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies co-hosted the January MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR (MADS)* on The Potential Market for Health Insurance in Africa featuring Jacques van der Gaag, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Global Health Financing Initiative, Brookings Institution and Fellow, Amsterdam Institute for International Development. Kenneth Leonard, Assistant Professor of Agriculture and Natural Resource Economics at the University of Maryland served as the discussant.
Download Willingness to Pay for Health Insurance presentation (pdf, 322K)
ABSTRACT: This study analyzes the willingness-to-pay for health insurance and hence the potential market for health insurance in Namibia, using contingent valuation (CV) method. The findings suggest that almost 87 percent of the uninsured respondents are willing to join the proposed health insurance scheme and on average are willing to insure 3.5 individuals (around 66 percent of the average family size). On average respondents are willing to pay NDR 252 per capita per year and respondents in the poorest income quintile are willing to pay up to 5 percent of their income, which is almost exactly equal to their current expected out-of-pocket expenditures. The results of the study indicate that private voluntary health insurance schemes have the potential to protect the poor against the negative financial shock of illness while providing a reliable income flow for health care providers.
*The Massachusetts Avenue Development Seminar (MADS) series is an effort by the Center for Global Development and The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies to take advantage of the incredible concentration of great international development scholars in the Metro Washington, DC area. The series seeks to bring together members of this community and improve communication between them.
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