Out-of-pocket spending (OOPS) for health care by households has been estimated by
several studies and estimations to contribute between 64 and 70 percent of health care
financing in Nigeria and has largely contributed to the inability of households to access
adequate and desirable health care be it public or private. The study therefore examined
out-of-pocket health care spending among households in Keffi, Nigeria. A structural
questionnaire (pre-tested with Cronbach Alpha value of 0.76) was used to collect
information from the randomly selected 322 households in Keffi, Nigeria. Data was
collected on: health problems that people had and sought care for; type of care sought,
outpatient department (OPD) visits and inpatient department (IPD) stays; providers
visited; spending; and preferences for improving access to care. Data was disaggregated
by socio- economic status (SES). The results indicated that most respondents used OOPS
as the commonest type of spending mechanism for health care consumption. It also
indicated that that money for treatment is the major factor influencing treatment seeking
for household members followed by distance to treatment point and also treatment bill
has influenced the choice of treatment point for household. The OOPS appeared largely
uninfluenced by socio-economic status (SES). The lack of SES differentials in use of
OOPS by respondents implies poor people are suffering and are not protected from the
risk and uncertainty of paying for healthcare when ill. The impact of OOPS is worse on
the poorest households as they are more likely to have higher occurrences of upheaval
due to health spending through OOPS. The findings of this study has suggested the need
reduce OOPS and pick up equity in healthcare financing by designing and implementing
spending strategies that will assure financial risk protection o