OECD Economics Department Working Papers
Working papers from the Economics Department of the OECD that cover the full range of the Department’s work including the economic situation, policy analysis and projections; fiscal policy, public expenditure and taxation; and structural issues including ageing, growth and productivity, migration, environment, human capital, housing, trade and investment, labour markets, regulatory reform, competition, health, and other issues.
The views expressed in these papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or of the governments of its member countries.
- ISSN: 18151973 (online)
- https://doi.org/10.1787/18151973
Improving the Performance of the Public Health Care System in Greece
Greek health outcomes compare favourably with the OECD average. However, the health care system is seen as not working well by the population. One source of dissatisfaction is the high proportion of private household spending on health, including informal payments, while public health spending relative to GDP is one of the lowest in the OECD. This situation leads to inequities in access to certain medical services. Also, there is a weakening of efficiency of the system, which should be addressed sooner than later in view of a rising demand for medical services, which is going to intensify in the coming decades, and the need to keep government health care spending in check. This calls for reforms in four areas: (i) reviewing the excessively fragmented structure of the health care system and its governance; (ii) enhancing the quality of public primary health care services; (iii) modernising hospital administration; and (iv) further tightening control over pharmaceutical expenditure.
Keywords: health policy, copayment, hospital, pharmaceutical expenditure, prescription system, referral system, primary health care, medical demography, general practitioners, excise tax, generic drugs, medical prevention, health care systems, National health system, data envelopment analysis, health insurance funds
JEL:
I12: Health, Education, and Welfare / Health / Health Behavior;
I10: Health, Education, and Welfare / Health / Health: General;
I18: Health, Education, and Welfare / Health / Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health;
I19: Health, Education, and Welfare / Health / Health: Other
- Click to access:
-
Click to download PDF - 1.61MBPDF
-
Click to Read online and shareREAD