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Benefit Package Costing Checklist for Insurers and Ministries
A checklist for commissioning, carrying out or reviewing the costing of a health benefit package — from defining the package to projecting costs and testing scenarios.
PDFUpdated 30 September 2026Health financing & insurance · Costing
What's inside
- Why benefit package costing matters for contribution rates, subsidies and tariffs
- The three building blocks — population, utilisation and unit costs
- A 25-point checklist from package definition to reporting
- Data sources for new and existing schemes
- How costing links to priority setting and HTA
Key points
- 01Define the package precisely before costing it; vague packages give meaningless costs.
- 02Covered population × utilisation × unit cost, service by service, is the core calculation.
- 03Utilisation usually rises when coverage expands; build this into projections.
- 04Show scenarios and hand over the model so the scheme can update it.
Frequently asked questions
What is benefit package costing?
Estimating what it will cost to deliver the services in a health benefit package to the covered population, now and over the coming years.
Is costing enough to decide what goes into a package?
No. Costing shows what a package costs. Deciding what to include also needs evidence on value for money, budget impact, equity and feasibility — the questions priority setting and HTA address.
What if we have no claims data?
Use facility records, household surveys and comparable schemes, state each source, and test the most uncertain inputs in scenarios.
Need this done properly?
This guide explains the method. If you would rather have the analysis done for you — with local data, independent quality control and a report you can defend — we can help.
Need this done properly?
Tell us about the decision you need to support. We will propose a scope, timeline and price.