The serious impact of underfunding on health and pharmaceuticals in Greece

Subject: The serious impact of underfunding on health and pharmaceuticals in Greece

According to a study carried out by the Institute of Political, Economic and Social Research (IPOKE), Greece is the EU-27 country with the most underfunded health system, leaving it significantly out of line with EU-27 averages. The country's ten-year economic crisis, the three memoranda and the pandemic have caused major inequalities in access to healthcare, resulting in the poorest having to spend twice as much on out-of-pocket healthcare. The figures are eye-watering: from 2009 to 2019 total health expenditure decreased by 22.8% in Greece while the EU-27 average increased by 16.7%. Pharmaceutical expenditure in Greece also shrunk significantly: from 78.1% in 2009 to 51% in 2019 compared to the EU-27 average which saw a decrease from 65.9% in 2009 to 59.3% in 2019. Meanwhile, only 45% of Greeks say they are satisfied with their country's health system compared to other countries such as Switzerland, Denmark and Spain where satisfaction rates are as high as 96.5%, 94% and 91% respectively.

In view of this:

Can the Commission tell us what steps it intends to take to reduce inequalities in health expenditure in the EU and help Greece, the ‘sick man’ of Europe in this sector, regain lost ground?

Submitted:24.5.2023

Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

(11 September 2023)

Based on available data (1), Greece is 20th among EU Member States for healthcare spending per inhabitant (EUR 1730.69, adjusted for purchasing power).

The amount spent per inhabitant on outpatient care and pharmaceuticals is comparatively low yet take up a comparatively high share of overall healthcare spending (2). In recent years, investments as a share of total healthcare expenditure in Greece are 2.29% placing it 24th among Member States (3).

The organisation, delivery and funding of healthcare are the responsibility of Member States. The Commission supports Member States to strengthen and invest in their health systems including through funding.

The Commission encourages Member States to address the challenges they face through the European Semester proces s (4), acknowledging challenges are country-specific and require tailored solutions.

In terms of funding, the Greek Recovery and Resilience Plan includes EUR 1.486 billion investments and reforms in healthcare, which will foster the resilience, accessibility, and sustainability of the Greek healthcare system.

These resources are complemented with Cohesion policy funds (5), aiming at the reduction of persisting unmet health needs at the regional level (6).

Between 2014-2020, Greece received EUR 545 million from the European Structural and Investment Funds (7) for the implementation of healthcare reforms.

In the 2021-2027 period, EUR 363 million are earmarked under the European Regional Development Fund (8) to co-finance infrastructure and equipment at all levels of care in the Greek National Health System in all 13 regions.

In addition, EUR 240 million from the European Social Fund Plus (9) have been earmarked by Greece to finance healthcare services.

1 ∙ ⸱ https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/HLTH_SHA11_HP__custom_6470841/default/table?lang=en

2 ∙ ⸱ See Annex 16 https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-05/EL_SWD_2023_608_en.pdf

3 ∙ ⸱ https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/health-at-a-glance-europe-2022_507433b0-

en;jsessionid=8u_MD0X9sgIAv2ZAGapdPS3HhoAYwJDzTiMOjjV-.ip-10-240-5-107 4 ∙ ⸱ https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/economic-and-fiscal-policy-coordination/european-semester_en 5 ∙ ⸱ https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/2021-2027_en

6 ∙ ⸱ https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/HLTH_SILC_08_R__custom_1879655/default/table?lang=en

7 ∙ ⸱ https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/funding-management-mode/2014-2020-european-structural-and-investment-funds_en

8 ∙ ⸱ https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funding/erdf_en

9 ∙ ⸱ https://ec.europa.eu/european-social-fund-plus/en