Background: Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibles are the beneficiaries of both Medicare and Medicaid. Dual eligibles satisfy the eligibility conditions for Medicare benefit. Dual eligibles also qualify for Medicaid because they are aged, blind, or disabled and meet the income and asset requirements for receiving Supplement Security Income (SSI) assistance. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between dual eligibility and health care utilization among Medicare beneficiaries.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the effect of public health expenditure on child mortality in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region in comparison to the developing world as a whole and the region of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Design/methodology/approach
This study used panel data extracted from the World Development Indicators database for the period 2000–2013 for 98 developing countries including 15 SADC countries. A dynamic panel data model of child mortality was estimated using the system generalized method of moments technique.
Findings
Results indicate that public health expenditure has a statistically significant effect on reducing infant and under-five mortality rates in the developing world, and that this effect is strongest in the SADC. Immunization and female literacy contributed significantly to the prevention of deaths of infants and children under five in developing countries. In the region of SSA, improved water sources and the reduction in the prevalence of HIV were found to be effective in reducing childhood mortality. There was little evidence for the benefit of higher GDP per capita.
Practical implications
The findings of this study suggest four policy areas which should be prioritized in public health spending to achieve better health among children: ensuring that females have better access to education, providing immunizations, intensifying interventions against the spread of HIV/AIDS, and improving water and sanitation infrastructure.
Originality/value
This study, which shows that the benefits of public health expenditure may be augmented by regional collaborations like the SADC, is one of the first to explore regional heterogeneity in the effectiveness of public health expenditure for the improvement of children’s health across the developing world.
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