Web-economic-crisis-health-systems-and-health-web

Georgia
Tata Chanturidze
Economic trends
• Georgia's economy rapidly recovered from its contraction in real per
capita GDP in 2009. While the size of government expenditure relative
to GDP has been decreasing since 2009, health as a share of government
spending has remained stable, albeit at a very low level relative to other
European countries (Georgia: Fig. 1).
• The majority of health spending is OOP (64.9% in 2011); OOP
expenditure per capita continued to grow during the crisis until 2011
when it declined by 2.7%. In 2011 public per capita spending declined
by 17.6% (Georgia: Fig. 2).
Policy responses
Changes to public funding for the health system
• The health budget fell by 14% in 2011 through political decisions to prioritize
other sectors.
• The almost doubling of the health budget in 2013 reflects the social priorities
of the new government.
Changes to health coverage
Population (entitlement)
• No response reported.
The benefits package
• No response reported.
User charges
• No response reported.
Changes to health service planning, purchasing and delivery
Prices of medical goods
• Introduction of market entry barriers and capital requirements for pharmacies
(2009).