Article
How is the use and expenditure of public healthcare services distributed?
Utilization grows and changes with age, while spending is distributed very unevenly: 5% of the population makes more than 50% of spending
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1The individual distribution of health expenditure is extremely unequal: half of the population originated expenditure of 71 euros per year, while almost 23,000 euros per person were needed with regard to 1% of the population.
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2Hospital, primary and pharmaceutical care are the healthcare areas most used by users of public healthcare services, while hospital pharmacy outpatient dispensing is on the rise.
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3Health expenditure increases with age and is higher for men than for women, except when the latter are of childbearing age.
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4The use of the healthcare system changes with age: young people use primary care and emergencies more and older people use hospitalisation and pharmaceutical care.
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5Diabetes is one of the pathologies that represent the lowest cost per user, but it is the disease that consumes the most resources due to its high prevalence among the population.
The vast majority of the population (95%) makes use of healthcare services that is lower than half of the budget earmarked for medical care. However, the remaining percentage of society (5%) generates the majority of the expenditure: 51%. The accumulation of chronic diseases and use of high-cost treatments are two factors that explain these striking differences.