The Effects of Health Insurance on Outpatient Utilization and Healthcareexpenditure in Ghana
Samuel Sekyi, Paul B. Domanban

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyse the effects of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) on the probability of utilizing outpatient care and its related out-of-pocket expenditure.A logit regression model was used to analyse the probability of utilizing outpatient care whiles a linear regression model was used to analyse the impact of NHIS memberships on out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure. Data for the study was obtained through a household survey. In all, 384 individuals were randomly selected and interviewed. The study reveals that insured respondents were more likely to utilize outpatient care than were their uninsured counterparts.Additionally, the results suggest that membership of NHIS has a strong protective effect on out-of-pocket expenditures for outpatient care. We conclude that NHIS is an effective tool for increasing utilization of modern healthcare services particularly outpatient care and that membership can protect households from the potentially catastrophic healthcare expenditures

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