Examining the Factors Affecting Household Expenditure on Health in Odisha: A Case Study in Sambalpur City

In the present study expenditure on health is an important issue that attract the attention of public, policy makers and the government. Developed countries spend more on health care in comparison to developing and less developed economies. Health has been taken as both consumer and capital goods. In this paper we have made an attempt to find the various determinants of health expenditure. The study has been made by taking only the primary data, in the study area to find out the determinants of health expenditure and its effect. The study shows various factors that determine the health care expenditure, such as income of the households, age of the respondents, doctors’ fee, expenses on medicines, bed charges, health insurance, educational qualification and the family size are the most important factors. The study also found that people in this region prefer government hospitals than the private health care facilities because for low cost. It is also found from the study that the people have more faith on modern methods of treatment than traditional methods of treatment. It also found that in the present year the government of Odisha made a more than 20 hospital with thousands of beds, which is first time in the country due to the COVID19 pandemic. This paper includes literature review, objectives, methodology and significance of the study, the hypothesis, findings and its conclusion.