An Assessment of Out of Pocket Expenditure on Child Bearing Process post Janani Suraksha Yojana: A Case from India

Objective of the paper was to assess OPE incurred by beneficiaries in accessing maternal health services and the extent to which Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) incentives could share the burden of total cost incurred. A community based study was conducted in an Indian State on 424 women, who delivered in last one year. Data was also collected from state government’s record on yearly expenditure under JSY. Study was funded by UNFPA, Bangkok.

The OPE per delivery was USD 28.8 if conducted at home; USD 72.5 at public facility and USD 155.4 at private facility. OPE varied by type of delivery, delivery with or without complications and place of ANC. The cost was USD 44.0 and 149.7 for normal and complicated delivery, respectively.

Direct and indirect expenditure incurred by government per delivery was USD 34.5 and 11.5 respectively. After deducting government expenditure from OPE, new OPE per delivery came out to be USD 9.5 for normal delivery (without complication) and USD 115.2 for complicated delivery. The government shared 55% of the total cost (OPE) per delivery. In case of the normal delivery the share increased to 83% whereas in case of complicated delivery it reduced to 29%.