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Impact of Free Delivery Care on Health Facility Delivery and Insurance Coverage in Ghana’s Brong Ahafo Region

Author

Listed:
  • Susie Dzakpasu
  • Seyi Soremekun
  • Alexander Manu
  • Guus ten Asbroek
  • Charlotte Tawiah
  • Lisa Hurt
  • Justin Fenty
  • Seth Owusu-Agyei
  • Zelee Hill
  • Oona M R Campbell
  • Betty R Kirkwood

Abstract

Background: Many sub-Saharan countries, including Ghana, have introduced policies to provide free medical care to pregnant women. The impact of these policies, particularly on access to health services among the poor, has not been evaluated using rigorous methods, and so the empirical basis for defending these policies is weak. In Ghana, a recent report also cast doubt on the current mechanism of delivering free care – the National Health Insurance Scheme. Longitudinal surveillance data from two randomized controlled trials conducted in the Brong Ahafo Region provided a unique opportunity to assess the impact of Ghana’s policies. Methods: We used time-series methods to assess the impact of Ghana’s 2005 policy on free delivery care and its 2008 policy on free national health insurance for pregnant women. We estimated their impacts on facility delivery and insurance coverage, and on socioeconomic differentials in these outcomes after controlling for temporal trends and seasonality. Results: Facility delivery has been increasing significantly over time. The 2005 and 2008 policies were associated with significant jumps in coverage of 2.3% (p = 0.015) and 7.5% (p

Suggested Citation

  • Susie Dzakpasu & Seyi Soremekun & Alexander Manu & Guus ten Asbroek & Charlotte Tawiah & Lisa Hurt & Justin Fenty & Seth Owusu-Agyei & Zelee Hill & Oona M R Campbell & Betty R Kirkwood, 2012. "Impact of Free Delivery Care on Health Facility Delivery and Insurance Coverage in Ghana’s Brong Ahafo Region," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(11), pages 1-9, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0049430
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049430
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kofinti, Raymond Elikplim & Koomson, Isaac & Paintsil, Jones Arkoh & Ameyaw, Edward Kwabena, 2022. "Reducing children's malnutrition by increasing mothers' health insurance coverage: A focus on stunting and underweight across 32 sub-Saharan African countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    2. Christopher J. Cronin & David K. Guilkey & Ilene S. Speizer, 2019. "Measurement error in discrete health facility choice models: An example from urban Senegal," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(7), pages 1102-1120, November.
    3. Olutobi Adekunle Sanuade & Sandra Boatemaa & Mawuli Komla Kushitor, 2018. "Hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment and control in Ghanaian population: Evidence from the Ghana demographic and health survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-18, November.
    4. Vincent Ekow Arkorful & Benjamin Kweku Lugu & Anastasia Hammond & Ibrahim Basiru & Frederick Appiah Afriyie & Bobita Mohajan, 2021. "Examining Quality, Value, Satisfaction and Trust Dimensions: An Empirical Lens to Understand Health Insurance Systems Actual Usage," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 471-489, September.
    5. Robert Kaba Alhassan & Edward Nketiah-Amponsah & Daniel Kojo Arhinful, 2016. "A Review of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana: What Are the Sustainability Threats and Prospects?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, November.
    6. V. Ridde & I. Agier & A. Jahn & O. Mueller & J. Tiendrebéogo & M. Yé & M. De Allegri, 2015. "The impact of user fee removal policies on household out-of-pocket spending: evidence against the inverse equity hypothesis from a population based study in Burkina Faso," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 16(1), pages 55-64, January.
    7. Alagidede, Paul & Baah-Boateng, William & Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward, 2013. "The Ghanian economy: and Overview," MPRA Paper 109687, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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