Primary Submission Category: Infants/children/youth
Does health insurance reduce childhood morbidity? Evidence from Zimbabwe
Authors: Nigel James Brian Thiede
Presenting Author: Nigel James*
The prevalence of childhood illnesses in developing countries remains unacceptably high. Interventions that increase health insurance are among the efforts to improve child health, but their efficacy is not fully understood. We examine the impact of health insurance on occurrence of childhood diseases in Zimbabwe, where child mortality rates are among the highest in the world. We also study insurance effects on treatment-seeking behaviors and conduct exploratory analayses of hypothesized causal mechanisms. We apply linear probability models using three waves of data from the Demographic and Health Surveys. We find that health insurance is associated with occurrence of diarrhea but not fever or cough overall. Effects on diarrheal illness are concentrated among boys and children in urban areas, and insurance reduces fever among girls and rural children. We also find evidence that insurance-related improvements in nutrition may explain these effects. Our findings imply that expanded health insurance remains an untapped strategy that can improve child health in Zimbabwe and other similar contexts.