ARI Working Paper Series

Using data from the Building Knowledge Base on Population Ageing in India (BKPAI), this paper tests the hypothesis whether financial accessibility improves the health of the elderly in India. Financial accessibility is measured using a source of income, while the health of the elderly is measured by chronic morbidity, financial access and utilization of health care among the elderly. This paper contributes to understanding the differential in financial accessibility by source of income. The results suggest that its level reduces the risk of ill health among the elderly. The old with disposable money in hand were less at risk. Underlying factors such as education, living arrangement and income were closely associated with shaping the level of chronic morbidity among the elderly in India. The risk of chronic morbidities increases with increase in age (p<0.0001). The type of residence (for instance, urban) was found to be reducing arthritis, while, it was a multiplying factor for hypertension among the grey population.