Horizontal inequity in healthcare access under the universal coverage in Japan; 1986-2007

Social Science and Medicine

Volumn 75, Issue 8, 2012, Pages 1372-1378

  Watanabe, Ryo ^a   Hashimoto, Hideki ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO   (Japan)

Author keywords

Concentration index; Healthcare access; Horizontal inequity; Japan; Universal coverage

Indexed keywords

ACCESSIBILITY; COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS; ECONOMIC CONDITIONS; HEALTH CARE; HEALTH INSURANCE; HEALTH POLICY; HEALTH STATUS; HOUSEHOLD INCOME; TIME SERIES;

ADULT; AGED; ARTICLE; CONTROLLED STUDY; COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS; CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY; ECONOMIC EVALUATION; FEMALE; HEALTH CARE ACCESS; HEALTH CARE COST; HEALTH CARE DISPARITY; HEALTH CARE NEED; HEALTH CARE QUALITY; HEALTH CARE SYSTEM; HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION; HEALTH INSURANCE; HUMAN; JAPAN; LOWEST INCOME GROUP; MALE; POLITICS; PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE; SOCIAL STATUS; SOCIOECONOMICS;

ADULT; AGED; CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES; FEMALE; HEALTH SERVICES ACCESSIBILITY; HEALTHCARE DISPARITIES; HUMANS; INCOME; JAPAN; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; UNIVERSAL COVERAGE; YOUNG ADULT;

JAPAN;

EID: 84864602257     PISSN: 02779536     EISSN: 18735347     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.06.006     Document Type: Article

References (32)

1. Abe A. Utilization of healthcare facilities. The national survey on social security 2007 2010, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Tokyo. National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (Ed.).
2. Allin S., Masseria C., Mossialos E. Measuring socioeconomic differences in use of health care services by wealth versus by income. American Journal of Public Health 2009, 99(10):1849-1855.
3. All-Japan Federation of National Health Insurance Organization. (n.d.). Kokuho no kotoba [in Japanese]. Downloaded from (last accessed at June 1, 2011). http://www.kokuho.or.jp/member/hoken_cal_0601.html.
4. Babazono A., Kuwabara K., Hagihara A., Yamamoto E., Hillman A. Does income influence demand for medical services despite Japan's " health care for all" policy?. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care 2008, 24(1):125-130.
5. Babazono A., Miyazaki M., Imatoh T., Une H., Yamamoto E., Tsuda T., et al. Effects of the increase in co-payments from 20 to 30 percent on the compliance rate of patients with hypertension or diabetes mellitus in the employed health insurance system. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care 2005, 21(2):228-233.
6. Carrin G., Mathauer I., Xu K., Evans D.B. Universal coverage of health services: tailoring its implementation. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2008, 86(11):857-863. [Electronic version].
7. DeSalvo K.B., Fan V.S., McDonell M.B., Fihn S.D. Predicting mortality and healthcare utilization with a single question. Health Services Research 2005, 40(4):1234-1246.
8. van Doorslaer E., Koolman X., Jones A.M. Explaining income-related inequalities in doctor utilisation in Europe. Health Economics 2004, 13(7):629-647.
9. van Doorslaer E., Koolman X., Puffer F. Equity in the use of physician visits in OECD countries: has equal treatment for equal need been achieved?. Measuring up: Improving health systems performance in OECD countries 2002, 225-248. OECD, Paris.
10. van Doorslaer E., Wagstaff A., Bleichrodt H., Calonge S., Gerdtham U.G., Gerfin M., et al. Income-related inequalities in health: some international comparisons. Journal of Health Economics 1997, 16(1):93-112.
11. Gruber J. The role of consumer copayments for health care: Lessons from the RAND health insurance experiment and beyond 2006, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park.
12. Ikeda N., Saito E., Kondo N., et al. What has made the population of Japan healthy?. The Lancet 2011, 378(9796):1094-1105. 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61055-6.
13. Ikegami N., Campbell J.C. Health care reform in Japan: the virtues of muddling through. Health Affairs 1999, 18(3):56-75.
14. Ikegami N., Yoo B.K., Hashimoto H., Matsumoto M., Ogata H., Babazono A., et al. Japanese universal health coverage: evolution, achievements, and challenges. The Lancet 2011, 378(9796):1106-1115. 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60828-3.
15. Ishikawa H., Yano E. Patient health literacy and participation in the health-care process. Health Expectations 2008, 11:113-122.
16. Jürges H. Cross-country differences in general health. Health, ageing and retirement in Europe - First results from the survey of health, ageing and retirement in Europe 2005, 95-101. MEA, Mannheim. A. Börsch-Supan (Ed.).
17. Le Grand J. The distribution of public expenditure: the case of health care. Economica 1978, 45(178):125-142.
18. Lindeboom M., van Doorslaer E. Cut-point shift and index shift in self-reported health. Journal of Health Economics 2004, 23(6):1083-1099.
19. Lu J.R., Leung G.M., Kwon S., Tin K.Y., van Doorslaer E., O'Donnell O. Horizontal equity in health care utilization evidence from three high-income Asian economies. Social Science & Medicine 2007, 64(1):199-212.
20. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan Comprehensive survey of living conditions 2007 (kokumin seikatsu kiso chosa) 2008, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, Tokyo.
21. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan National medical expenditures 2007 (kokumin iryohi) 2009, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, Tokyo.
22. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan Patients' behavior survey report in 2008 (Juryo Kodo Chosa) 2009, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, Tokyo.
23. Murata C., Yamada T., Chen C.C., Ojima T., Hirai H., Kondo K. Barriers to health care among the elderly in Japan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2010, 7(4):1330-1341.
24. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Economic survey of Japan 2006 2006, OECD Publishing, Paris.
25. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Health status 2012, Downloaded from. http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx%3FDataSetCode%3DHEALTH_STAT.
26. Ohkusa Y., Honda C. Horizontal inequity in health care utilization in Japan. Health Care Management Science 2003, 6(3):189-196.
27. Shibuya K., Hashimoto H., Yano E. Individual income, income distribution, and self rated health in Japan: cross sectional analysis of nationally representative sample. British Medical Journal 2002, 324(7328):16-19.
28. Tachibanaki T., Urakawa K. Trends in poverty among low-income workers in Japan since the nineties. Japan Labor Review 2008, 5(4):21-48.
29. Wagstaff A., Paci P., van Doorslaer E. On the measurement of inequalities in health. Social Science & Medicine 1991, 33(5):545-557.
30. Wagstaff A., van Doorslaer E., Watanabe N. On decomposing the causes of health sector inequalities with an application to malnutrition inequalities in Vietnam. Journal of Econometrics 2003, 112(1):207-223.
31. World Health Organization The world health report 2010 2010, World Health Organization, Geneva.
32. Yashiro N., Suzuki R., Suzuki W. Evaluating Japan's health care reform of the 1990s and its efforts to cope with population aging. Health care issues in the United States and Japan 2006, 17-42. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. D.A. Wise, N. Yashiro (Eds.).