The Impact of Universal Health Coverage on Health Expectancy among Older People in Thailand

Abstract

 

As a result of the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in 2002, more than 98% of Thai population were covered by one of three main public health insurance schemes with various benefit packages. The UHC package and certain interventions have significantly saved the lives of Thai people. At the same time, the prevalence of sickness from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is continually increasing. This health issue is remaining a challenge for Thailand, particularly in the situation of an ageing society. Longer life expectancy – together with the continuous increase in the occurrence of NCDs and chronic diseases, have raised a question whether Thai people live longer with a healthy life or not – after the entire population was covered by the UHC in 2002, particularly among older people. Health expectancy as a population health indicator will play an important role in responses to this question because it focuses more on how long people can expect to live with healthy life or without disability until death, which is especially important to an ageing population. In this seminar, I would like to demonstrate my ideas to study on estimating the impact of the UHC on population health through health expectancy. This study could help policymakers to better understand the impact of UHC on the change in population health status. I strongly believe that attendees’ suggestions and comments will greatly benefit my research.

 

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