Sustainable Health Financing and Resource Allocation: An Empirical Analysis of Urban Households in Mumbai (2022–2025)

Abstract

This study investigates the socio-economic factors influencing household health expenditure in Mumbai from 2022 to 2025, emphasising sustainable health financing and equitable resource distribution The regression results, which are based on 494–777 household observations per year, demonstrate that total income continues to be the most significant predictor of health expenditure, suggesting ongoing disparities in healthcare access. Education and household size also show up as important predictors in the post-pandemic era. People who have more education are more likely to know about ways to stay healthy and avoid getting sick, which means they spend more money on medical and wellness services. People in bigger families also tend to spend more of their income on health care because they have more people who depend on them and their medical needs are more varied. The study emphasizes the need for fair and sustainable health financing systems that consider income differences and family structures. It backs policies that promote preventive healthcare through community initiatives and educational programs. These efforts contribute to fair and financially stable urban health systems after the pandemic. Future studies can extend this analysis by comparing urban and rural households or multiple cities, and by incorporating factors such as health insurance use, quality of healthcare services, and access to public health infrastructure to better explain variations in health expenditure.