El gasto sanitario público en el País Vasco, 1995-2008: comparación con el conjunto de las comunidades autónomas

Abstract

Objective

To determine the growth and distribution of public expenditure on health among health sectors in the Basque Country from 1995 to 2008 and compare them with those in the 17 autonomous regions in Spain as a whole.

Method

Public expenditure on health in the Basque Country among health sectors and its annual growth were determined and compared with average expenditure in Spain's 17 autonomous regions through a retrospective longitudinal study. Demographic variables such as regional income (GDP per capita) and population aging were also analyzed.

Results

Between 2002 and 2008, the per capita public expenditure on health in the Basque Country was 10% higher than the average in the autonomous regions and growth was 1.3% higher. Per capita pharmaceutical expenditure in the Basque Country was 2% lower than the regional average, growth was 27% higher than this average, and its weight in public expenditure on health grew 0.950% annually. The annual growth of hospital expenditure in the Basque Country was 15% higher than that in primary care (3.571% vs. 3.097%) and the weight of primary care in public expenditure on health decreased 2.6 times more than that of hospital care. On average during the period, both sectors exceeded the regional average of per capita expenditure by 16-17%. However, per capita expenditure on hospital staff in the Basque Country was 20-30% higher than the regional average while that on primary care staff was 10-15% higher than this average.

Conclusions

Between 1995 and 2008, Basque hospital and primary care maintained their budgetary superiority over the regional average. In hospital staff, this budgetary superiority was double that in primary care compared with the regional average. Pharmaceutical expenditure was within the regional average.