EXAMINATION OF PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE IN TERMS OF HEALTH SERVICES USAGE IN TURKEY

In this study, it was aimed to investigate whether there was any difference of the usage of health services between individuals who had and had not private health insurance in Turkey. If there was any difference, which direction it effects and what kind of health care it directs individuals toward. A questionary was created by author depending on literature review. There were questions about participants’ socio-demographic, economic and health status and the usage of their health services in the last year. The sample was consisted of 852 people, 459 of whom do not have private health insurance and 393 of whom have private health insurance. The data was analyzed with SPSS.v2 package program. Non-parametric tests such as Mann Whitney U test and Chi square were used for the analyzing. Significant differences in terms of outpatient treatment, surgical procedure, vaccination, dentist visits, glasses-contact lenses supply and family health center (FHC) visits were found between the groups. It was found that individuals who had private health insurance tend to use therapeutic health services rather than preventive health services. Also, the usage of primary health care in this group was lower than others.