Health cost in Indonesia: evidences from IFLS and Susenas data

This paper is using statistical approach to measure health cost and to understand the pattern of health expenditure in Indonesia by utilizing raw data from Susenas and IFLS. From the Susenas data it was found that most households use their own income to finance health expenditure, rather than by utilizing, for example, health card or health insurance. In general, urban health expenditure in Indonesia was significantly different with their counterparts in rural areas, with average health cost is higher in urban rather than in rural. It was found also that health expenditure was moving positively in line with household expenditure. While from the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) data, it was found that the share of health expenditure to total expenditure is less than those exhibited in Susenas. Transportation cost to medical facilities adds the health cost, especially to rural villagers for they had limited access to these facilities. Despite using two databases in conducting the research, results obtained should not be compared directly, for each has different methods and time period where the surveys conducted.