Radical Health Reform Imminent In Italy?

In Italy, the aging population and inflationary pressures have pushedthe cost of health care beyond the reach of public funds. Political instability has made the situation even harder to manage; no single government has been in power for long enough to effect real change.

However, says a study from Datamonitor, available through the Marketletter's offices, there are signs that the new right-wing coalition government wants to introduce more radical measures. Cost-containment moves are focusing on patients and physicians, the key drivers of demand and supply, and drug classification could come under review to give the government more control over drug spending. These moves are now little more than high-level proposals but they are likely to be implemented not too far into the future, despite protests from those most likely to be affected, forecasts the study.

Govt Moves On Physicians The key demand instruments within the system are primary care physicians, who see any attempt to influence their behavior as a threat to their professional integrity and status. Italy has not yet gone the way of many economies in making physicians financially aware of the impact of their decisions, but Datamonitor believes this will change as the government devolves more budgetary responsibility to the regional health authorities, the ASLs. This could mean legislation creating a financial framework for physicians to work in, or, more likely, greater monitoring of their activity by the ASLs.