Health insurance subscription among women in reproductive age in Ghana: do socio-demographics matter?

BACKGROUND: Premised that health insurance schemes in Africa have only been introduced recently and continue evolving, various concerns have been raised regarding their effectiveness in improving utilisation of orthodox health care and the reduction of out-of-pocket expenditures for their population, particularly women. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of socio-demographics on health insurance subscription among women in Ghana. METHODS: The study draws on the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey. Bivariate descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Wealth status, age, religion, birth parity, marriage and ecological zone were found to have significantly predicted health insurance subscription among women in reproductive age in Ghana. Urban dwellers, women who are nulliparous, those with no or low levels of education, African traditionalists and the poor were those who largely did not subscribe to the scheme. CONCLUSION: The findings underscore the need for the National Health Insurance Authority to carry out more education in association with the National Commission for Civic Education and the Information Services Department to recruit more urban dwellers, nulliparous women, those with no or low levels of education, African traditionalists and the poor unto the scheme.