Factors affecting the uptake of health insurance among people living in rural areas: a case study of Kamwenge sub-county

Abstract

Health insurance provides cover in case of unexpected illness for the insured, whereas it is being embraced by some people, insurance uptake in Uganda is generally still low, being around 1%, the main reasons for this are economic factors and ignorance of how insurance works, with the latter forcing some to opt for out-of-pocket payments. The objectives of this study were to establish the relationship between socio-demographic factors, socio-economic factors and the uptake of health insurance, to assess the relationship between individual factors, health knowledge and uptake of health insurance. This study adopted a cross sectional survey design, which employed a quantitative method. A self-administered questionnaire was used in obtaining the data on factors affecting uptake of health insurance. A total of 385 respondents participated in the study, with 194 males (53.13%) and 192 females (46.88%) taking part. According to the results obtained, 89 respondents (23.1%) had health insurance whereas 296 respondents (76.9%) did not have health insurance. It is also noted from the findings that even though a large proportion of the respondents (46.9%) thought that health insurance was necessary, only a small percentage of the respondents (23.1%) actually had health insurance. Despite the fact that majority of the respondents (46.2%) know companies offering health insurance, most of the respondents did not have health insurance.

Results from this study revealed that only the variables (think that health insurance is necessary, believe health insurance is for the rich, know someone with health insurance, fair perspective towards insurance and middle-income level) were significant predictors of the uptake of health insurance since their p-values were less than 0.05. A person who knows anyone with health insurance is 6.64 times more likely to have health insurance since the odds ratio is 6.64. From the above findings, there is need for the right measures to be taken to increase sensitization among people about health insurance and the associated benefits.