Analysing the Influence of Health Insurance Status on Peoples’ Health Seeking Behaviour in Rural Ghana

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of health insurance status on healthcare use in rural Ghana using 286 sampled respondents from four rural communities in the Bekwai Municipality. Data were obtained using structured interview and Pearson’s Chi square and bivariate regressions were used to analyse data. The results show low healthcare utilization among study participants, with most respondents having irregular use (43.5%) or rare use (43.3%). Respondents with health insurance utilized healthcare more than those without health insurance, the results being statistically significant (df = 4; n = 283, p = 0.000). The bivariate analysis revealed that health insurance status has a positive and significant influence on utilization (β = 1.284; p value = 0.000). The study recommends promotion and improvement of services of the National Health Insurance Scheme as effective strategy to improve healthcare consumption by the rural people. The expansion of health insurance services to all sections of the population is also recommended.