Improving equity in the distribution and financing of health services in Mauritius, a small island state with deeply rooted welfare state standards

BACKGROUND: Ensuring benefits of free healthcare services are accessible to those in need is essential to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). Mauritius has sustained a welfare state over four decades with free health services in all public facilities. However, paradoxically, the national UHC service coverage index stood at only 63 in 2017. An assessment of who benefits from health interventions is, therefore, vital to shape future health financing strategies. METHODS: The study applied benefit incidence analysis (BIA) to understand the distribution of healthcare utilisation and spending in comparison to income distribution. Also, a financial incidence analysis (FIA) was conducted to assess the progressivity of the health financing systems. Data from the national survey on household out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure for health were used for the purpose of BIA and FIA. Concentration curves and concentration indices (CI) were nationally estimated and disaggregated to rural/urban levels. Kakwani index (KI) was calculated to assess the progressivity of private healthcare financing. RESULTS: The CI for outpatient, inpatient and day care within the public health sector is estimated at −0.33, –0.14 and −0.14, respectively. Overall, CI in the public sector is −0.26. Benefit distribution in the private sector is pro-rich with CI of 0.27. Healthcare financing is regressive as demonstrated by a KI of −0.004, with the poorest population groups contributing a large share, in terms of taxes and OOP, to finance the health system. CONCLUSION: The BIA posits that government spending on public healthcare has resulted in significant pro-poor services distribution. This is largely offset by pro-rich distribution in the private sector. Thus, implying health financing strategies must be reviewed to promote financial protection against catastrophic health payments and bolster efforts to improve UHC service coverage index and achieve UHC Target 3.8 under Sustainable Development Goal 3.