Özet:

Turkey has initiated comprehensive reforms to increase equity among its citizens for healthcare financing, access to health services, and health outcomes. A significant change in this process was expanding the benefits package for the non-contributory public health insurance for low-income households. This study examines the impact of the public insurance expansion on out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures for the poor. We find that public insurance helped the beneficiaries not spend a sizeable portion of their income to get medical treatment. Overall, the public insurance program provided financial protection for the poor households by decreasing out-of-pocket health expenditures.

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