1. Financing Healthcare in Central and Eastern European Countries: How Far Are We from Universal Health Coverage?
- Author
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Jacek Klich, Alicja Domagała, and Marzena Tambor
- Subjects
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,Slovenia ,lcsh:Medicine ,universal health coverage ,post-communist society ,0302 clinical medicine ,Universal Health Insurance ,Health care ,Slowenien ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Estland ,media_common ,Czech Republic ,Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie ,Polen ,030503 health policy & services ,Health Policy ,Rationing ,Lettland ,health care ,Eastern european ,Ostmitteleuropa ,health insurance ,Cost sharing ,ddc:300 ,Ungarn ,Gesundheitspolitik ,postkommunistische Gesellschaft ,0305 other medical science ,Public finance ,Slowakei ,Estonia ,Slovakia ,Litauen ,Krankenversicherung ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Gesundheitswesen ,Role of Government V - ISSP 2016 (ZA6900 v2.0.0) [healthcare financing ,International Social Survey Programme] ,Article ,Social Security ,East Central Europe ,03 medical and health sciences ,healthcare financing ,Humans ,Finanzierung ,soziale Sicherung ,Social sciences, sociology, anthropology ,Finance ,Central and Eastern European countries ,Government ,Hungary ,Equity (economics) ,business.industry ,ISSP ,Gesundheitsversorgung ,funding ,lcsh:R ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Tschechische Republik ,Lithuania ,Payment ,Latvia ,health care delivery system ,Business ,Poland ,Health Expenditures ,Delivery of Health Care - Abstract
After the fall of communism, the healthcare systems of Central and Eastern European countries underwent enormous transformation, resulting in departure from publicly financed healthcare. This had significant adverse effects on equity in healthcare, which are still evident. In this paper, we analyzed the role of government and households in financing healthcare in eight countries (EU-8): Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. A desk research method was applied to collect quantitative data on healthcare expenditures and qualitative data on gaps in universal health coverage. A linear regression analysis was used to analyze a trend in health expenditure over the years 2000–2018. Our results indicate that a high reliance on out-of-pocket payments persists in many EU-8 countries, and only a few countries have shown a significant downward trend over time. The gaps in universal coverage in the EU-8 countries are due to explicit rationing (a limited benefit package, patient cost sharing) and implicit mechanisms (wait times). There is need to increase the role of public financing in CEE countries through budget prioritization, reducing patient co-payments for medical products and medicines, and extending the benefit package for these goods, as well as improving the quality of care.
- Published
- 2021