Because governments under financial pressure cannot increase their health care expenditure at the pace of the last few decades, they have to increase the efficiency and quality of their systems at no extra cost, stated the Organization for Economic Co-operatuib and Development (OECD) at the beginning of the week.
OECD underlined the fact that more effective health care systems would have a higher positive impact on life expectancy than continuing financial investments in flawed systems, especially since health care expenditures are among the largest in the governments’ spending. Measures are required all the more since the health care funding will be hit by the aftereffects of the global financial crisis, warned the Paris-based organization.
According to OECD economists, Denmark, Hungary, Slovakia and Greece, as well as the US could benefit highly from improving their health care systems, since efficiency is at very low levels compared to government expense in the sector. To the other end, as positive examples of efficient running in the health care sector were listed Switzerland, Iceland, South Kores, Japan and Australia.
Should their example be followed, the wealthiest OECD states that require improved efficiency would obtain a life expectancy average higher by two years, without having to pump additional funding in the health care sector, reads the report. Alternatively, an increase in spending of 10 percent would only improve life expectancy by 3-4 months, said OECD experts.
Despite considerable improvements in the 29 OECD member states since the ‘90s, the various health systems show uneven performance. Furthermore, there has been a steady increase of health care expenditure owing to aging populations, expensive developments in medical sciences and rising prices.
According to the report, public spending in the health care sector throughout OECD is expected to grow by 3.5-6 points of the gross domestic product by 2050, and in such a scenario improvements in health care systems’ efficacy would protect public finances from taking a path that is not sustainable long term.
