There Health in Sicily it’s becoming a privilege. Reserved for those who can afford to pay medical care. Instead of waiting months for a check-up in hospital (more than 600 days of waiting for an endocrinological visit, for example), families end up having to wallets. And it’s not just an island problem. “We can no longer ignore the fact that more and more people, especially the most vulnerablethey are giving up to treatment. Millions of people find themselves forced to choose between their health and other basic needs, such as a diet healthy and education of their children. Only those who have money care and this determines inequalities economic and social incurable”. Anna says it bluntly Rheanational president Adoc.
Health spending in Sicily
On the island, healthcare spending weighs on the balance more familiar than in other regions of Italy. In jargon it is called “out of pocket” and is the expense incurred directly by citizens for healthcare, or “Of pocket own“. According to the latest report prepared by Adoc and Eures on the state of health of public health in Italythis type of expenditure has grown by almost 17% between 2012 and 2022. In a decade it went from 31.5 to 36.8 billion euros. Each family today spends, on average, 113.5 euros per month for treatment out of pocket, more than 1,300 euros every year. It’s about the 4.3% of total healthcare spending (which is largely supported by public finances). The share paid by families falls to the South 4.5% and in Islandstherefore also in Sicily4.6%.
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Rea (Adoc): “Incurable economic inequalities”
To healthcare spending overallfinanced by the State, families “they share” increasingly. In three ways. First of all with the payment of ticket. Then paying benefits intramural: in hospital, but outside doctors’ working hours. Finally, through the use of the offer of private individuals which can shorten unacceptable waiting times and sensational cases that FocuSicilia has reported several times. This creates two fronts, very far from the constitutional right to health. The one of the bands of population wealthy, “capable of supporting insurance and private expenses,” they explain Adoc and Eures, and those from the less well-off groups. These are “forced to suffer delays, waiting lists and progression contraction of the offer of structures, services and health benefits”.
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Insurance is growing, the elderly are spending more
The growing lack of trust in public health is also confirmed by the increase in policies insurance private, which Italians are increasingly signing up to. Coming to spend, in 2022, 3.51 billion euros. Ten years ago the expenditure was 2.27 billion, in 2017 it was 2.74 billion. Adoc and Eures they also take a photograph of the characteristics of the families who spend the most on healthcare. In first place are the couples elderly without children, followed by couples with a son and those without children. The three types of families have to pay healthcare costs of 159.9, 134.1 and 128.8 euros per month respectively, compared to 113.5 in the average national. On the contrary, those who spend less are young who live alone or as a couple (with an average monthly expense of 46.3 and 65.8 euros respectively).
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Inadequate national spending compared to other EU countries
Hospitals, staff and territorial structures remain insufficient. Waiting for any improvements due to the effects of Pnrrit is evident there‘inadequacy of public health spending in Italy compared to other EU countries. From OECD data taken from Eures and Adoc, the value of healthcare spending in Italy for 2022 (equal to 6.8% of GDP), it is decidedly inferior to that of direct European benchmarks, such as the Germany and the France, where public spending on healthcare represents 10.9% and 10.3% of the country’s GDP respectively. The data Italian it is also lower than that of Villages Bassof the Belgiumfrom the Finland and of Spain (whose values are between 8.6% and 7.3% of GDP), exceeding that of Greecefrom the Poland And of Ireland. In line with the Italian value, finally, those of Norway And Portugal.
