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

Italy
Francesca Ferrè and Walter Ricciardi
Economic trends
• Italy's real per capita GDP has been below the European average throughout
the crisis period and growth was negative in both 2009 and 2010; real
per capita GDP returned to low levels of growth in 2011. Italy has run a
budget deficit in every year, including the years prior to the crisis.
• Health spending as a share of government expenditure has remained
constant and above the European mean. Growth of per capita public and
OOP expenditure on health were negative in 2010 but resumed positive
growth in 2011 (Italy: Figs 1 and 2).
Policy responses
Changes to public funding for the health system
• Extensive cuts to the health budget took place under the Financial Law
(2011); further cuts (totalling €2.5 billion) were planned for 2012 to
2014 (2012).
• The government allocated additional resources to the health sector
(€1.1 million in 2010, €400 million in 2011 and €300 million in 2012)
as part of an central–regional government agreement to increase funding
for the NHS, long-term care and social policy and to finance investments
in public sanitary infrastructure (2010).
Changes to health coverage
Population (entitlement)
• No response reported.
The benefits package
• Some regions reclassified drugs covered by the NHS (de-listing, price
renegotiation within regional drug reference lists and setting maximum
reimbursement limits when equivalent drugs become available); the
main criteria for reclassification are clinical and cost–effectiveness, disease
prevalence, drug's toxicity and drug's acceptance by patients) (since 2008).
• Proposed adding services to the benefits package (treatment for 110 new
rare diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic osteomyelitis,