BMC Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation
http://resource-allocation.biomedcentral.com/
(Accessed 9 July 2016)

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Research
An extended cost-effectiveness analysis of schizophrenia treatment in India under universal public finance
Neha Raykar, Aditi Nigam and Dan Chisholm
Published on: 8 July 2016
Abstract
Background
Schizophrenia remains a priority condition in mental health policy and service development because of its early onset, severity and consequences for affected individuals and households.
Aims and methods
This paper reports on an ‘extended’ cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA) for schizophrenia treatment in India, which seeks to evaluate through a modeling approach not only the costs and health effects of intervention but also the consequences of a policy of universal public finance (UPF) on health and financial outcomes across income quintiles.
Results
Using plausible values for input parameters, we conclude that health gains from UPF are concentrated among the poorest, whereas the non-health gains in the form of out-of-pocket private expenditures averted due to UPF are concentrated among the richest income quintiles. Value of insurance is the highest for the poorest quintile and declines with income.
Conclusions
Universal public finance can play a crucial role in ameliorating the adverse economic and social consequences of schizophrenia and its treatment in resource-constrained settings where health insurance coverage is generally poor. This paper shows the potential distributional and financial risk protection effects of treating schizophrenia.