Factors affecting demand for health insurance among the elderly aged 40 years and above in Uganda

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the factors affecting the demand for medical insurance in Uganda among the elderly aged 40 years and above. The objectives of the study were; to find out the effect of social-demographic factors on the demand for health insurance among the elderly aged 40 years and above, to assess the effect of economic factors on the demand for health insurance among the elderly aged 40 years and above and to determine the effect of accessibility to information on the demand for health insurance among the elderly aged 40 years and above. Data were analyzed using STATA 15 statistical software. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered a factor to be associated with health insurance demand. The study applied a Chi-square test model to secondary data to examine the factors influencing the demand for health insurance among the elderly aged 40 years and above. Findings showed that marital status (p=0.001, χ2=21.837), occupation (p=0.024, χ2=17.599), and accessibility to information (newspapers (p=0.051, χ2=5.971), and television (p=0.047, χ2=6.106)) significantly affect the demand for health insurance in Uganda. However, age (p=0.272, χ2=2.605), residence (p=0.102, χ2=2.668), education level (p=0.439, χ2=0.439) and, radio (p=0.599, χ2=1.024) do not significantly affect the demand for health insurance since their p-values are greater than the level of significance at 0.05. The study, therefore, recommended that the government should expand programs such as the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) aimed at reducing poverty among the elderly people so that they can afford basic healthcare, the formation of community outreach interventions that provide home care services for disabled older people could also solve the challenge of access to health facilities, strengthening long term care to older people with chronic conditions. Training specialized groups of healthcare workers to manage lifestyle diseases in Uganda’s healthcare system, devising policies that provide effective risk coverage rather than focusing on the tax benefits and also encouraging them for long term investment in insurance, and lastly, private insurers should highlight more on advertising and building brand awareness through different modes of communication by way of social medial platforms, magazines, billboards thus helping in spreading insurance awareness among the public.