Journals Proceedings

Abstract

Healthcare reforms in sustaining the best healthcare financing are the most common debating issues in both developed and developing countries. Policy maker and researchers keep analyzing and experimenting an innovative financing mechanism in order to mobilize resources for sustainable long term healthcare spending. Among other financing mechanism, Medical Saving Account (MSA) is one of the strategies being assessed in ensuring the efficiency issues especially in cost containment as well as in reducing healthcare cost. Due to failure of realizing the large-scale healthcare reform, MSA are proposed in conjunction with high-deductibles health insurance which it could be as a substitute of healthcare reforms. Due to highly subsidized health care expenditures especially in public health care facilities, some developing countries will be overwhelmed with extremely increased health care cost in the future. In other words, if this practice is not improved and monitored, the subsidy fund would deplete. The Medical Saving Account (MSA) model shall be considered as contributing elements in ensuring sustainability of government subsidy in health care facility and enhancing the sources of government fund to cope with the future health care cost. The aim of this paper is to assess the efficiency of MSA in reducing the healthcare cost by reviewing the rational of few countries which experimenting the MSA. The analyzed results reveals that the MSA model is intended to reduce demand for health services by making individuals financially responsible for their pattern of consumption. MSA theory encourages individuals to spend money more responsibly, especially once they become more educated about the actual price of health services. Furthermore, MSA can be used as tax advantaged vehicles to save for health care expenses in retirement. MSAs intends to address some of the main inefficiencies such as moral hazard, escalating costs, adverse selection, and gaps in medical coverage. Initial schemes showed a decline in total health expenditure.