Investigating the operating factors influencing the high cost of private healthcare in Namibia: A case study of the medical aid funds industry in Namibia
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Date
2016
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
This study investigated on the factors driving high cost in the private medical health providers in Namibia. The study sort seeks answers to the following questions (1) how has the trend in the Private Medical Aid Fund cost been during the period 2009 to 2013 (2) What are the factors contributing to annual increments in the Medical Aid Fund Premiums (3) Do increases in the Medical Aid Fund Premiums have impacts on access to Private healthcare in Namibia (4) What can be done to curb the increase cost of Private Medical Aid Funds in Namibia.
The researcher used a face to face interview which was administered to 25 medical aid personnel. A structured questionnaire was administered to 50 randomly selected members of the public including members of private medical aid funds. The qualitative data was analyzed using Atlas.ti software which grouped the data into semantic codes and themes. The theoretical triangulation was used to interpret the data on the views and perceptions of the key informants. These views and perceptions were grouped into different themes related to the factors that drive the Medical Aid cost in Namibia. For the quantitative data analysis, the descriptive statistics were used to describe and synthesize the socio-demographic data. In fact, the categorical variables were summarized into frequency distributions and percentages; the continuous variables were summarized into central tendency parameters (mean, median, and mode) and the dispersion parameters (standard deviation, Interquartile). Furthermore, the inferential statistics were used for the analysis of the factors driving the medical aid cost in Namibia. In fact, Pearson chi square test was used to test for the association between the different factors and the increase of Medical Aid cost. Correlation analysis was used to determine the trend and strength of statistical association between the pricing of medical aid premiums at different periods. A p-value of 0.05 or less will be deemed statistically significant. Findings of this research study showed that there has been a general increase of both monthly medical aid premiums and the number of membership from the year 2009-2013. The study also unveiled that the main factor fueling the high cost of medical aid premiums is inflation and a general increase in the costs of medical services. It was recommended that the government of Namibia should introduce price control mechanisms to medical services’ providers and Medical Aid Schemes. It should also reinforce the preventive programs and educate the Namibian general public to live healthy for them to keep their medical expenses low.
Description
A research thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Business Administration
Keywords
Healthcare