An analysis is presented from the perspective of excessive, catastrophic and impoverishing out-of-pocket expenses in the National Health System.
Public health spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product was equal to 1.8% between 2000 and 2009 and 2.8% between 2010 and 2018. Out-of-pocket spending maintained its predominant share of health financing throughout this period. Catastrophic out-of-pocket spending has not changed much for the most vulnerable either. Between 2000 and 2014 the incidence of catastrophic spending remained around 5% of households.
According to the WHO Global Health Observatory, prior to the arrival of the coronavirus, Paraguay’ s public spending was around 3.0% of GDP and the share of out-of-pocket spending was around 44% of total health spending. In Argentina, public spending in relation to GDP was 5.9%, in Brazil 3.9%, in Chile 4.6% and in Uruguay 6.7%. The share of out-of-pocket spending in these countries was 28%, 28%, 33% and 17%, respectively.