Financial protection for adolescents’ health care

Abstract

This chapter explores how health services for adolescents are paid for, how this affects the supply of services relevant to this age group, and the extent to which adolescents access services. It uses the key dimensions of universal health coverage (UHC) to discuss what is known about social protection in health for adolescents, framed around three questions: Which adolescents are covered by a pooled funding arrangement (insurance or tax-based)? How are adolescents affected by direct payments for health services? What services tend to be included in pooled funding arrangements (tax-funded or insurance) and do they meet the needs of all adolescents? The study finds that the literature about health financing and adolescents is scarce. However, the challenges of making universal health coverage work for the world’s adolescents are in some ways the same as for other age groups: Society’s poor and marginalized are the hardest to reach. Moreover, adolescents (who have limited access to cash and a particular need for confidential health care) bring their own special challenges, which need to be accommodated by pooled funding schemes, whether insurance-based or tax-financed.