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. 2022 Jan-Dec:59:469580221092829.
doi: 10.1177/00469580221092829.

Sustainability of Healthcare Financing in Greece: A Relation Between Public and Social Insurance Contributions and Delivery Expenditures

George Mavridoglou  1 , Nikolaos Polyzos  2
Affiliations

Sustainability of Healthcare Financing in Greece: A Relation Between Public and Social Insurance Contributions and Delivery Expenditures

George Mavridoglou et al. Inquiry. 2022 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

The economic crisis in Greece, which began in 2010 and lasted for 10 years, highlighted the serious problems and challenges of the Greek Social Health Insurance system. The reforms that mainly took place during the crisis provided a temporary solution. They focused on establishing a new National Organization for Healthcare Services (named EOPYY) and merging all the old insurance funds. This paper aims to examine whether this social health insurance fund has been sustainable in the long run. An actuarial model was created to project future expenses and revenues. Demographic and economic trends were considered, while it was assumed that medical technology remains unaltered. The assessment of the system solvency was based on the ratio (Revenue/Liabilities) calculated for each year, from 2020 to 2050. The results led to deficits, the amount and the time point in which they appear depends on how optimistic or pessimistic demographic and economic assumptions were. A new financial flow model was proposed to address the deficits. The results show that under the new model, the system remains solvent until 2050. The state subsidy amount on the employees' health insurance premium was estimated as a percentage of the employees' wage.

Keywords: Greek social health insurance; actuarial models; healthcare finance; pay as you go.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Greece and Euro Area Health expenditures (% gross domestic product) 1988–2019
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Proposed model of financial flow within the health system of Greece.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Contributions to EOPYY, (% gross domestic product), 2020–2050
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Expenditures and Finance estimations (% gross domestic product), 2020–2050 (pessimistic scenario).
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Expenditures and Finance estimations (% gross domestic product), 2020–2050 (basic scenario).
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Expenditures and Finance estimations (% gross domestic product), 2020–2050 (optimistic scenario).
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Solvency ratio, 2020–2050, current and proposed models.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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