Who Wants to Be Healthy? A Contingent Valuation Analysis on Community-Based Health Insurance in Tigray Region

Abstract

This research aimed to assess the willingness to pay (WTP) for Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) and to identify the factors that affect it in Tigray, Ethiopia. A simple random sampling method was employed, involving 332 uninsured household heads. These individuals were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire to gather primary data. The study utilized a contingent valuation method (CVM) with both single and double-bound elicitation formats, and the data were analyzed through descriptive and econometric techniques. The findings indicated that approximately 92 percent of respondents expressed a willingness to pay for community-based health insurance. The average willingness to pay ranged from 372.88 Ethiopian Birr (ETB), as determined by the single-bound elicitation method, to 387.23 ETB per year according to the Interval data model. Various factors, including bid amounts, educational attainment, extension contact, household expenditure, perceived risk, monthly discount rate, gender, family size, proximity to health facilities, and loss aversion, significantly impacted households' willingness to pay. It is crucial for government officials and other relevant stakeholders to take these demographic, socioeconomic, and institutional factors into account to improve the willingness to pay for community-based health insurance.