Spain’s national health system (SNS) offers virtually universal, tax-funded healthcare that is free at the point of care, with responsibilities decentralized to regional governments and coordinated nationally by the Ministry of Health. Recent reforms have focused on reinforcing universal access, equity, and financial protection, especially for vulnerable groups, while addressing challenges such as workforce shortages in primary care and access disparities in rural areas. Although Spain performs well in health outcomes compared to the EU, with high life expectancy and low avoidable mortality, gaps remain in areas like mental, dental, and optical care, as well as in ensuring efficient use of healthcare resources.
Spain: health system review 2024
Reference
Enrique Bernal-Delgado, Ester Angulo-Pueyo, Manuel Ridao-López, Rosa M Urbanos-Garrido, Juan Oliva-Moreno, Daniel García-Abiétar, Cristina Hernández-Quevedo, Spain: health system review 2024, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 16 Sep 2024
Published On
01 Oct 2024
Country
Tags
Source
Enrique Bernal-Delgado, Ester Angulo-Pueyo, Manuel Ridao-López, Rosa M Urbanos-Garrido, Juan Oliva-Moreno, Daniel García-Abiétar, Cristina Hernández-Quevedo, Spain: health system review 2024, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 16 Sep 2024