Financial Wellbeing during Covid-19 Pandemic: Concerns about Medical Costs

Abstract

Financial wellbeing which represents a great concern for individuals regardless of their social status or their current employment situation constitutes an important element of overall individual wellbeing. Within a broader structure of financial wellbeing, concerns about medical costs have gained a vital importance particularly following the pandemic. Identifying what factors influence this growing concern is critical to tackle with the problem and improve individual wellbeing. Hence, this study is expected to shed light on such an important individual and national concern. To that end, this paper utilizes Global Financial Inclusion Database which is based on national representative surveys of about 128,000 adults across more than 120 countries. Empirical analysis in which ordered probit model was applied aims to investigate if there exists an association between financial concerns about medical costs and COVID-19. Findings of the empirical investigation reveal that being in the group of those who are very worried about financial hardship due to Covid-19 outbreak increases the probability of reporting being very worried about medical cost payments by about 34.5 percentage points. Therefore, it is seen that pandemic detrimentally related to individuals’ increased concerns over medical costs. These findings are expected to guide policy makers on the management of healthcare system and measures to improve individual wellbeing.

Keywords

• Financial Wellbeing
• Medical Costs
• COVID-19
• Individual Wellbeing
• Microdata

Covid-19 Salgını Sırasında Finansal Refah: Tıbbi Maliyetlerle İlgili Endişeler

Öz

Sosyal statüleri veya mevcut istihdam durumları ne olursa olsun bireyler için büyük bir endişe kaynağı olan finansal refah, genel bireysel refahın önemli bir unsurunu oluşturmaktadır. Finansal refahın daha geniş olan yapısı içinde, tıbbi maliyetlere ilişkin endişeler özellikle pandemi sonrasında hayati bir önem kazannıştır. Bu büyüyen endişeyi hangi faktörlerin etkilediğini belirlemek, sorunla mücadele etmek ve bireysel refahı artırmak açısından kritik öneme sahiptir. Dolayısıyla bu çalışmanın böylesine önemli bir bireysel ve ulusal meseleye ışık tutması beklenmektedir. Bu amaçla bu çalışma, 120'den fazla ülkede yaklaşık 128.000 yetişkinin katıldığı ulusal temsili anketlere dayanan Global Financial Inclusion Database (Global Findex, 2021)’i kullanmaktadır. Sıralı probit modelinin uygulandığı ampirik analiz, tıbbi maliyetlere ilişkin finansal endişeler ile COVID-19 arasında bir ilişki olup olmadığını araştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Ampirik araştırmanın bulguları, Covid-19 salgını nedeniyle maddi sıkıntıdan çok endişe duyanlar grubunda yer almanın, tıbbi masraf ödemeleri konusunda çok endişeli olduğunu bildirme olasılığını yaklaşık 34,5 puan artırdığını ortaya koymaktadır. Bu nedenle, pandeminin bireylerin tıbbi maliyetlerle ilgili artan endişeleri ile zararlı bir şekilde ilişkili olduğu görülmektedir. Bu bulguların, politika yapıcılara sağlık sisteminin yönetimi ve bireysel refahı iyileştirmeye yönelik önlemler konusunda rehberlik etmesi beklenmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Finansal Refah
• Tıbbi Maliyetler
• COVID-19
• Bireysel Refah
• Mikro Veri

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