Why are individuals willing to pay more for health care than for family planning?
Consumers are likely to perceive the benefits they gain from curative health care, preventive health care and family planning very differently. Curative care is generally sought in response to an immediate and sometimes urgent health need, so its benefits are immediate and personal. Preventive care, on the other hand, has effects that are not immediate and that may benefit many others besides the individual receiving care. Reactions to prices for family planning are more likely to resemble reactions to prices for preventive care than to fees for curative care.13However, in the case of family planning, individuals are attempting to prevent pregnancy rather than illness. The consequences of not taking action are very different in these two cases. The results of a study in Burkina Faso are illustrative.14 Nearly all households were willing to pay for improvements in equipment at health facilities, the maintenance of these facilities, and drugs to treat a range of common illnesses. Far few
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