Spanish Health Spending To Rise in 1995

Health care spending in Spain is set to increase by more than 200 billion pesetas ($1.5 billion) in 1995. Half of the rise is being attributed to the new financing system for public health care (Marketletters passim) which was agreed towards the end of September by central government and the autonomous communities. The latter are now responsible for over 50% of health care expenditure, according to the Spanish financial daily, Cinco Dias.

The object of the agreement is to establish the real cost of services, so that health service managers can see clearly the margin for maneuver which they have. It is hoped that this will help avoid the high levels of overspending that have occurred in the last few years.

Accumulated debts arising from health care provision in Spain during 1992 and 1993 amounted to 370 billion pesetas ($2.8 billion), and it is estimated that it will take until 1996 to clear this debt. For the current year, the Ministry for the Economy has set aside 95 billion pesetas ($760.3 million), which will go towards clearing the debt.