Rehabilitation in health financing: opportunities on the way to universal health coverage

Health financing is a core pillar of health systems and encompasses the three functions of how revenues for health are collected, pooled and paid out to providers of health care services. It can be leveraged to pursue key universal health coverage goals of enhancing access, ensuring quality and financial protection against catastrophic or impoverishing out-of-pocket expenditure. But knowledge on how health financing practices can be harnessed to promote the delivery of rehabilitation services is limited. This document is the first WHO resource on health financing for rehabilitation. It considers current practices for financing rehabilitation services, frames major challenges and opportunities, and offers guidance to decision-makers engaged in strengthening rehabilitation within health systems.