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Ensuring Equal Access to Health Services: User Fee Systems and the Poor
By William Newbrander, David Collins, and Lucy Gilson
In many countries, patients pay fees to cover some of their health care costs. While user fees generate much-needed revenues, they also raise important questions regarding the poor’s access to services. This book examines user fee systems in five countries. In some cases, it shows that user fees have reduced the access of the poor to health services. In other cases, revenues from fees have improved access to and quality of services.