Public health and social assistance have had a high fiscal prioritization, exceeding 25% of total government spending.
Analyzing the behavior of spending on health and social assistance in Cuba as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product, it is worth noting that between 1996 and 2004, this indicator reached values of around 6% and then increased steadily to 13.8% in 2009. It then fell from that year onwards to 9.1% and recovered in 2014, reaching 10.4% due to the salary increase for health personnel.
Another element related to financing is out-of-pocket health care spending. The main source of family spending in Cuba is associated with the processes of population aging and the scarce resources available in the country to care for a population with high life expectancy and a greater burden of comorbidities associated with older age groups.