FACTORS AFFECTING PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE FUND AMONG THE ELDERLY HOUSEHOLDS IN GEDARIF CITY, SUDAN

Abstract

The reason for conducting this study is to identify the main factors that influence the participation of elderly households in the National Health Insurance Fund in Gedarif City, Eastern Sudan. Without health insurance, elderly households face large and uncertain medical expenditure At the same time, they have limited resources to meet increasing health care costs. The study uses quantitative methods to explore the main factors affecting NHIF participation among elderly households in Gedarif City. Primary data from 600 respondents were collected in 2015 and analyzed using binary logistic and multinomial logistic regressions. The results show that knowledge about National Health Insurance Fund, education, accessibility of health services, satisfaction with providers services, social interactivity among the society, exposure to advocacy information, and health status have a significant impact on enrolment. The study concludes that the National Health Insurance Fund has to set and conduct regular promotional activities to improve the target group’s knowledge, increase accessibility to health care services (especially in the peripheral area of Gedarif City, and improve the quality of health care services.