Changes in Use of Health Services during Indonesia's Economic Crisis

Elizabeth Frankenberg, University of California at Los Angeles
Bondan Sikoki, RAND
Wayan Suriastini, RAND
Duncan Thomas, University of California at Los Angeles

This paper uses panel data from the 1997 and 1998 rounds of the Indonesian Family Life Survey to examine changes in the health sector in Indonesia during the first year of the economic crisis. Changes in the characteristics of health facilities themselves were substantial. Prices rose at public and private sector sources of care, while public facilities experienced drug stock outages with increasing frequency. Community health posts also experienced changes for the worse, particularly with respect to the availability of supplies and supplementary food. These changes are related to use of care by adults and children, which generally declined between 1997 and 1998. Declines in use are also related to characteristics of the individuals themselves, such as age, and to socioeconomic characteristics of the households.