Healthcare, in 2022 almost two million people did not have the money for treatment: Gimbe's alarm
Crazy prices, long waiting lists and difficulty accessing: in 2022 4.1 million Italians have decided to limit expenses for exams or specialist visits. But not only that: 2.1 million families, in precarious economic conditions, have not had the opportunity to receive treatment. This is the alarm picture reported by a Foundation study Gimbe on healthcare spending based on data published by Istat.
In detail, in 2022 the health expenditure incurred directly by Italian families, the so-called out of pocket, amounts to almost 37 billion euros. Over 25.2 million families on average they spent 1,362 euros on health, over 64 euros more than in 2021 which rises to 100 euros for the Center and South. Forwardand, 4.2 million families have limited health spendingparticularly in the South. And more 1.9 million people have given up healthcare services for economic reasons. The health of over 2.1 million poor families is at risk. This was revealed by the analysis of the Gimbe Foundation which is based on Istat data.
“Three considerations emerge from our analyzes – says Nino Cartabellotta, president of the Gimbe Foundation – First of all, the amount of out-of-pocket spending underestimates the lack of public protection because it is stemmed by phenomena resulting from economic difficulties of families. Secondly, these phenomena are much more frequent in the Southern Regions, precisely those where the provision of Essential Levels of Assistance is inadequate. Finally, the status of absolute poverty that today involves more than two million families requires urgent policies to combat poverty, not only to guarantee a dignified standard of living for all people, but also because social inequalities in access to care and the impossibility of meeting health needs with one's own resources risk compromising the health and lives of the most poor, particularly in the South. Where the unprecedented health, economic and social impact risks worsening further with differentiated autonomy”, concludes Cartabellotta.
According to Gimbe's analysis, in 2022 the percentage of people who renounced healthcare services – after the dramatic data of the pandemic period, 9.6% in 2020 and 11.1% in 2021 – stood at 7%, a percentage however higher than the pre-pandemic figure of 2019 (6.3%). There are over 4.13 million people who, explains Cartabellotta, “declare that in the last year they have given up specialist visits or diagnostic tests despite needing them due to economic problems, difficulty in access, long waiting times”. In particular, in 2022, 3.2% of the population gave up treatment for economic reasons, or almost 1.9 million people. While the incidence of absolute poverty for families in Italy rose from 7.7% to 8.3%, or almost 2.1 million families.
The North East recorded the most significant increase, going from 7.1% to 7.9%, followed by the South with an increase from 10.5% to 11.2% and by the Islands with an increase from 9.2% to 9 ,8%. Even if the North-West and the Center recorded a more limited increase (0.4%), the phenomenon of absolute poverty is widespread throughout the national territory. ). And the preliminary Istat estimates for 2023 document a further increase in absolute poverty among families: from 8.3% to 8.5%.
According to the Gimbe analysis, 16.7% of families say they have limited spending on medical visits and investigations periodic estimates in quantity and/or quality. If the North-East (10.6%), the North-West (12.8%) and the Center (14.6%) are below the national average, the whole of the South is above: slightly Islands (18.5%), the South by more than 10 percentage points (28.7%), in practice more than 1 in 4 families. 4.2% of families declare that they do not have money in some periods of the year to cover illness-related expenses. The North-East (2%), the Center (3.1%) and the North-West (3.2%) are below the national average, while the South is above the national average: the Islands at 5.3% and the South at 8% respectively, a figure almost double the national average. More generally, Gimbe reports, total health spending in Italy amounts to 171,867 million euros: 130,364 million of public spending (75.9%) and 41,503 million of private spending, of which 36,835 million (21.4%) 'out -of-pocket' and 4,668 million (2.7%) intermediated by health funds and insurance companies. Overall, in the period 2012-2022 'out-of-pocket' spending increased on average by 1.6% per year, for a total of 5,326 million in 10 years.
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