Does aging matter? Mapping the government health expenditure in South Asian countries

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The present study examined the interdependence between population aging and the per capita general government health expenditure in South Asian countries, considering the period from 2000 to 2022. The study has also considered other crucial determinants such as population density, labor force total, per capita gross domestic product, unemployment, and physicians (per 1000 people) as control variables. Data have been extracted from World Development Indicators. The Driscoll-Kraay standard error method and panel corrected standard error methods have been employed to tackle the issues of heteroscedasticity, cross-section dependence, and autocorrelation in the model. Moreover, for the robustness result, the study has applied a simultaneous equation model using the three-stage least squares method, which handles the endogeneity problem. The findings of the study reveal a positive and statistically significant interdependence association between the per capita domestic general government health expenditure and the population aged 65 and above. Due to data unavailability, we are unable to consider other crucial factors. The advanced methodological technique can be used to expand future research by taking into account additional important aspects. Limited number of studies examined the impact of aging population on government healthcare expenditure, especially in South Asian region. The present study gives a comprehensive overview of the impact of an aging population on government healthcare. Since health expenditure and population aging reinforce each other, policymakers should adopt sustainable financing and preventive care strategies to manage cost while ensuring health longevity.