Private healthcare spending in 2023
exceeded 40 billion euros, registering a 26.8% increase between
2012 and 2022, independent health foundation GIMBE reported on
Tuesday.
However, nearly 40% of the total was spent on services and tests
that ended up being useless, without responding to the real
needs of patients, according to the report on private healthcare
spending in Italy in 2023 commissioned by the National
Observatory Welfare & Health and presented on Tuesday at the
National Council on the Economy and Labour (CNEL) government
think tank.
The study highlighted how higher private healthcare expenses
weighed on families with many foregoing treatment amid
difficulties in accessing services provided by the National
Healthcare System, often due to long waiting lists.
In particular, total healthcare spending in Italy reached 176.1
billion euros, including 130.3 billion in public healthcare
(74%), 40.6 billion in private healthcare directly paid for by
families (23%) and 5.2 billion in private expenses covered by
insurance policies and health funds (3%).
In addition, 88.6% of private healthcare expenses were paid
directly by families with only 11.4% covered by healthcare
insurance, GIMBE noted.
"These figures show three key phenomena - public underfunding,
the weakness of the intermediation system and the growing
economic weight" of healthcare on families, explained Nino
Cartabellotta, president of the GIMBE Foundation.
"We are very far from the threshold suggested by the World
Health Organization: to guarantee fairness and access to
treatment, out-of-pocket spending should not exceed 15% of total
healthcare spending", he noted.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
