Determinants of private health insurance demand: a case of insurance companies in Kenya

Date
2024
Authors
Njoroge, A. N.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
Health insurance is an important tool for promoting health and reducing the burden of healthcare costs for individuals and households. In Kenya, health insurance coverage remains low, with only about 20% of the population covered. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing private health insurance demand in Kenya, with a focus on the effects of education, employment status, and household disposable income. This study is anchored on the Grossman's model of healthcare demand and also leans on the Nyman’s model of private health insurance. Nyman's model emphasizes the role of income and price elasticity in determining healthcare demand, while Grossman's model proposes that an individual's health investment decisions are influenced by their human capital, time preference, age, environmental factors, and expected benefits of investing in health. The study adopted a longitudinal survey design, utilizing secondary data from various sources including the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the Insurance Regulatory Authority, and the World Bank Development Indicators. The data covered the period from 2002 to 2022, allowing for the analysis of trends and changes in health insurance demand over time. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data and examine the distribution of health insurance coverage across educational levels, employment statuses, and income levels. Linear regression analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between health insurance demand and the independent variables of education, employment status, and household disposable income. Using the F-Statistic and R-squared the research concluded that education level, unemployment rate, and household disposable income jointly influenced health insurance demand significantly. Education was not a significant determinant, contrary to expectations and previous research. On the other hand, unemployment rate and household disposable income played crucial roles in shaping health insurance demand. A notable limitation of this study was the confined time frame. This limitation arose from the unavailability of data for the years preceding 2002 for certain data series.
Description
Full - text thesis
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Citation
Njoroge, A. N. (2024). Determinants of private health insurance demand: A case of insurance companies in Kenya [Strathmore University]. http://hdl.handle.net/11071/15592