Under- funding of the health sector and its effects. Romania in European context

Abstract

The financing of health is a topic of general interest, from each of us, who contribute to the financing of this sector, through the compulsory payment of health insurance, to the most developed states, which face difficulties in financially supporting the care of the state population health. The effects of the under-funding of the health sector are manifold. Political and economic instability contributed to a low percentage of GDP allocated to health, among the lowest of the EU member states. When we talk about the under-funding of the health sector in Romania, we refer to the percentage of GDP allocated to this sector comparing, from this point of view, the member states of the U.E. Underfunding is not the only problem facing our country in this segment, but, together with the inefficient management of the existing financial resources, represent the main difficulties of the Romanian healthcare system. The insufficient financial resources for the health care of the population of Romania are reflected on the state of health, generating effects with an impact on the national economy. The present study aims to analyze the main effects of the underfinancing of the health sector, respectively (1) Direct payments or "out of the patient's pocket", (2) The low number of medical professionals, (3) Inequalities in the coverage of the population with the basic health services, (4) Inequalities in accessing health services. The research methodology combines qualitative research, respectively the revision of the specialized literature, with the quantitative one; the data needed for the quantitative research were collected from official sources, respectively www.ec.europa.eu. JEL: A12, H51, I15, P43.