Social Development & Welfare Planning

Analyzing Health System Financing: Exploring the Impact of Funding Levels and Methods on System Efficiency

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

javad feli

Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran e- javad_feli@pnu.ac.ir

10.22054/qjsd.2026.84599.2660
Abstract
The amount of a system's costs, how these costs are financed, and the efficiency of a system are among the concerns of its policymakers. In this regard, we have examined the amount and method of financing the health sector and their efficiency. The method of this research is a secondary analysis of health system data from all member countries of the World Health Organization in 2019, with 25 countries selected as samples based on the Sping-Andersen model. To measure financing methods, three factors were used: the share of the government sector, the share of the insurance sector, and the share of patient out-of-pocket payments in health expenditures. To measure efficiency, two factors were used: life expectancy and the mortality rate of children under five years of age. There is a direct and significant relationship between the level of government health expenditure (and per capita health spending) and the efficiency of a country's health sector. Conversely, there is an inverse and significant relationship between direct out-of-pocket payments by patients and health sector efficiency; however, no significant relationship exists between the share of insurance in health expenditure and efficiency. Providing financial resources from the public budget and reducing patients' out-of-pocket payments ensure the efficiency of the health sector.

Keywords

health system
financing methods
per capita cost of the health sector
Iran
out of pocket
Subjects
Social Development & Welfare Planning

Articles in Press, Corrected Proof
Available Online from 20 September 2026

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