The sustainability of European health care systems: beyond income and aging

Fabio Pammolli (), Massimo Riccaboni () and Laura Magazzini

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2012, vol. 13, issue 5, 623-634

Abstract: During the last 30 years, health care expenditure (HCE) has been growing much more rapidly than GDP in OECD countries. In this paper, we review the determinants of HCE dynamics in Europe, taking into account the role of income, aging population, technological progress, female labor participation and public budgetary variables. We show that HCE is a multifaceted phenomenon where demographic, social, economic, technological and institutional factors all play an important role. The comparison of total, public and private HCE reveals an imbalance of European welfare toward the care of the elderly. European Governments should increasingly rely on pluralistic systems to balance sustainability and access and equilibrate the distribution of resources across the functions of the public welfare system. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2012

Keywords: Health care expenditure; Sustainability; Aging population; Unbalanced growth; Income elasticity; Welfare; H51-Government Expenditures and Health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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Working Paper: The Sustainability of European Health Care Systems: Beyond Income and Ageing (2008)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:13:y:2012:i:5:p:623-634

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DOI: 10.1007/s10198-011-0337-8

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