THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL HEALTH INSURANCE ON WOMEN’S HEALTHCARE USE: EVIDENCE FROM INDONESIA

Abstract

To increase the use of healthcare services in Indonesia, the government of Indonesia introduced Askeskin, a subsidized social health insurance for the poor, in 2005. We examine the effects of this social health insurance on women’s healthcare use. Using propensity score matching, we find Askeskin induces women to use public healthcare facilities for birth delivery and antenatal checkup, discourages them from getting help from midwives for birth delivery, and makes them more likely to use contraceptives. The insurance seems to increase delivery care expenditure, however. We do not find evidence that it increases women’s preventive and curative healthcare use.