International Comparison of South African Private Hospital Price Levels

Luca Lorenzoni and Tomáš Roubal
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Luca Lorenzoni: OECD
Tomáš Roubal: World Health Organization

No 85, OECD Health Working Papers from OECD Publishing

Abstract: The health system in South Africa is unique in many ways. South Africa spends 41.8% of total health expenditures on private voluntary health insurance – more than any OECD country – but only 17% of the population – mostly high income citizens - can afford to purchase private insurance. Given the magnitude of private health expenditures, the activities in the private health care market have an important impact on the functioning of the health care system as a whole. Medical schemes (private health insurance) in South Africa mainly finance care that is predominantly delivered by private providers (i.e., private hospitals, specialists, general practitioners, pharmacies). Therefore, these schemes primarily finance an alternative to seeking care in the public sector and offer services that duplicate those available in the public sector. Le système de santé sud-africain est unique à plusieurs égards. L'assurance maladie privée volontaire représente 41.8% des dépenses totales de santé sud-africaines - plus que tous les pays de l'OCDE - mais seul 17% de la population – surtout des citoyens à revenus élevés - peut souscrire à une assurance privée. Compte tenu de l'étendue des dépenses de santé privées, les activités du marché privé ont un impact important sur le fonctionnement du système de santé dans son ensemble. Les assurances maladie privées en Afrique du Sud financent principalement des soins fournis par des professionnels privés (hôpitaux privés, spécialistes, généralistes, pharmacies). Elles représentent par conséquent une alternative à la recherche de soins dans le secteur public et offrent les mêmes services que ce dernier.

JEL-codes: C43 D24 I13 M41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-02-17
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