The impact of National Health Insurance upon accessibility of health services and financial protection from catastrophic health expenditure: a case study of Savannakhet province, the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

The models found that the NHI significantly enhances accessibility for poor income households, improving health service distribution and accessibility for the various income levels when compared to the CBHI coverage. Additionally, it was also found that NHI had enhanced financial protection since its introduction. However, the NHI policy requires a dramatically high level of government subsidy; therefore, there its long-term sustainability remains to be determined.