Factors related to the performance of local health insurance funds of Muang District, Sisaket Province

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the operation of sub-district health insurance funds in Muang District, Sisaket province. The study period was in May 2012. There were 96 study subjects including 16 Chief Executives and 16 Chief Administrators of the sub-district administrative organizations (SAO) who were purposively selected, plus 64 members of local health insurance committees (LHIC) who were randomly selected from altogether 240 members. Data were collected by using a set of questionnaires which was reviewed by experts with the Cronbach’s alpha value of reliability of 0.74, 0.90, 0.89 and 0.95, respectively. It included of knowledge, benefit packages, function and roles of the LHICs. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistic consisting of percentage, mean, standard deviation, chi-square test and Pearson correlation. It was found that 59.4 percent, 53.1 percent and 43.8 percent of the subjects had good knowledge on the fund, the benefit packages, and the roles of the LHIC, respectively. There was fair level of overall operation of the funds (42.7%). The level of performance of the funds was directly correlated with the age of committee members, duration of work, position in the community, number of population under responsibility, knowledge on benefit packages, knowledge on the fund’s roles, and acquisition of information. The outcomes of this study indicated that there was a need to improve the capacity of the LHICs in the management of health promotion and disease prevention services as well as financial management. In addition, community participation in submitting plans to gain support from the LHICs should also be promoted.