Means testing in cost recovery: a review of experiences.

The Health Financing and Sustainability (HFS) Project provides technical assistance applied research training and information dissemination to developing countries in health economics health sector policy development and health services management. The applied research is conducted to increase the body of knowledge on the issues which underlie health financing problems with regard to cost recovery productive efficiency social financing and the private sector. As part of the projects studies on cost recovery means testing is considered as a method of protecting the poor under cost recovery systems. This document presents a review of experiences with targeting and means testing worldwide contributing to the HFS applied research on the topic. Sections cover the characteristics of industrialized and developing countries respectively which affect targeting; an analysis of experiences with targeting; and measures of success.