On Friday, the CSO released information on health spending. It consists of two parts: the National Health Account (developed by the Central Statistical Office on the basis of an international methodology used for almost a decade, which enables the comparison of health expenditure in various EU countries) and information on public expenditure on health care based on the data of the Ministry of Health.
GUS: How much did we spend on health?
Published Aug. 1, 2022 08:51
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- The National Health Account covers current expenditure on health, both public and private, while expenditure on health care prepared by the Ministry of Health, in accordance with the provisions of the Act (the Act on health services financed from public funds), refers only to to public funds and not limited to current expenses (they do not include local government expenses) - explains the Central Statistical Office.
What does this information show? In terms of the National Health Account, according to preliminary estimates, current expenditure on health care in 2021 amounted to PLN 172.9 billion (constituted 6.6% of GDP) and was higher than in 2020 by approx. preliminary data for 2020, which amounted to PLN 151.9 billion, or 6.5% of GDP).
The increase in expenditure was observed for both public and private expenditure. Public current expenditure on health care in 2021 amounted to PLN 125.5 billion and was PLN 15.7 billion higher than in 2020. Also, current private expenditure increased by PLN 1.1 billion and amounted to 13 in 2021, PLN 6 billion. - The increase in current expenditure on health care was influenced, among others, by increase in direct household expenditure, which amounted to PLN 33.8 billion, i.e. by 4.1 billion (14%) more than in 2020, informs the Central Statistical Office.
GUS, in line with international standards for presenting health expenditure, relates it to the current GDP. And so, in 2019, the total current expenditure on health was 6.4 percent. GDP, a year later - 6.5 percent. and in 2021 - 6.6 percent. GDP. Similarly, public expenditure in these years amounted to: 4.6 percent, 4.7 percent. and 4.8 percent GDP.
The structure of expenditures by functions in 2020 (data for 2021 in this approach is not available yet) is as follows:
• healing services - 58 percent (in 2019 - 58.9%) including hospital treatment - 30.9% (in 2019 - 32.3%), outpatient treatment - 24.8%. (in 2019 - 24.7%)
• medical articles, incl. drugs - 21.7% (in 2019 - 21.8 percent)
• long-term health care - 8.3% (in 2019 - 6.7%)
• rehabilitation services - 4.2 percent (in 2019 - 4.5%).
Request? In the first year of the pandemic, there was only a noticeable increase in expenditure in the area of long-term care.
In the second part of the information, the Central Statistical Office includes data compiled by the Ministry of Health.
- In 2021, healthcare expenditure accounted for 6.22 percent. GDP - we read (with an annotation, in parentheses: GDP from year N-2, because the ministry uses the methodology included in the so-called 7% GDP on health act, relating current expenditure to GDP from two years ago).
- In accordance with the Budget Act for 2021 and the original plan of the National Health Fund, funds in the amount of PLN 120.5 billion have been planned for this year, which were increased during the year, and their final implementation amounted to PLN 141.3 billion ( including 23.7 billion from the COVID-19 Counteracting Fund 12 transferred to the National Health Fund), which constitutes 6.22 percent. GDP (year N-2). It should be emphasized that these funds in 2021 were about PLN 25 billion higher (21.5 per cent) than the expenditure allocated to health care in 2020 - we read further. This increase was almost entirely due to the expenses of the COVID-19 Counteracting Fund, which financed, among others, operation of temporary hospitals, purchase of vaccines and organization of a vaccination program or covid supplements for staff, as well as purchase of equipment, personal protection equipment and medicines.
Source: GUS
