Objective: To estimate the effect of disability and incapacity in health expenditure in poor households in Mexico.
Material and methods: This is an analysis of baseline survey of the Oportunidades evaluation. Households with siblings with structural disability or incapacity were identified, and health expenditure was estimated.
Results: In 15314 households analyzed, 10.1% had a sibling with structural disability, and 13.4% with mild or severe incapacity. The presence of structural disability was not associated with a higher expenditure in health care. The presence of mild or severe incapacity was associated with 97% higher expenditure in ambulatory care compared with households without incapacity. The poor households have higher health related expenditures.
Conclusions: These results indicate that the incapacity to develop day to day activities has a significant impact on the out of pocket health expenditure. This impact is higher in poor households.