Italy's healthcare system faces growing financial strain
Private healthcare spending in 2023 exceeded 40 billion euros, registering a 26.8% increase between 2012 and 2022, independent health foundation GIMBE reported, CE Report quotes ANSA.
However, nearly 40% of the total was spent on services and tests that ended up being useless, without responding to the real needs of patients, according to the report on private healthcare spending in Italy in 2023 commissioned by the National Observatory Welfare & Health and presented at the National Council on the Economy and Labour (CNEL) government think tank.
The study highlighted how higher private healthcare expenses weighed on families with many foregoing treatment amid difficulties in accessing services provided by the National Healthcare System, often due to long waiting lists.
In particular, total healthcare spending in Italy reached 176.1 billion euros, including 130.3 billion in public healthcare (74%), 40.6 billion in private healthcare directly paid for by families (23%) and 5.2 billion in private expenses covered by insurance policies and health funds (3%).
In addition, 88.6% of private healthcare expenses were paid directly by families with only 11.4% covered by healthcare insurance, GIMBE noted.
"These figures show three key phenomena - public underfunding, the weakness of the intermediation system and the growing economic weight" of healthcare on families, explained Nino Cartabellotta, president of the GIMBE Foundation.
"We are very far from the threshold suggested by the World Health Organization: to guarantee fairness and access to treatment, out-of-pocket spending should not exceed 15% of total healthcare spending", he noted.
