Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | Communities set to benefit the most are Valencia, receiving 97.6 million euro (US$132.2 million), followed by Andalucia with 65.9 million euro and Galicia with 20.8 million euro. |
Implications | European Union countries paying the highest contributions to Spain are the United Kingdom, with 107.4 million euro, followed by France and Germany, as a result of Spain's number of immigrants from these countries. |
Outlook | Tourism and immigration, especially a great number of foreign pensioners are putting pressure on Spain's healthcare system. Whether the reimbursement received foreign nationals is sufficient is not clear, since Spain itself is faced with a growing elderly and medically needy population. |
Spain's communities will receive a total of 307.46 million euro (US$419.3 million) for healthcare services provided to foreign nationals, El Global reports. The Valencia community will receive 97.6 million euro, followed by Andalucia, with 65.9 million euro and Galicia with 20.8 million euro.
Reimbursement by Community for Foreign Nationals'Healthcare 2006; (mil. euro) | |
Andalucia | 65.9 |
Aragon | 13.2 |
Asturias | 3.16 |
Balearic Islands | 8.5 |
Canaries | 13.7 |
Cantabria | 1.4 |
Castilla-La Mancha | 2.1 |
Castilla y Leon | 6.4 |
Catalonia | 13.5 |
Valencia | 97.6 |
Extremadura | 2.8 |
Galicia | 20.8 |
La Rioja | 23 |
Madrid | 6.1 |
Murcia | 11.8 |
Navarra | 1.3 |
Basque Country | 2 |
Ceuta | 11.7 |
Melilla | 2.5 |
Total | 307.46 |
Source: Ministry of Health 2006, El Global. | |
Countries paying the highest contributions are the United Kingdom, with 107.4 million euro; France with 55 million euro; Germany with 28.9 million euro; Belgium with 18.1 euro; and the Netherlands with 17 million euro. On the Spanish side, the greatest invoice Spain had to pay was to France, where the Spanish residents generated a cost of 5 million euro; Morocco received 3.1 million euro and Portugal received 1.2 million euro. A majority of foreign residents in Spain are pensioners. According to a new procedure from January 2006, the National Institute of Social Security calculates the percentage of funds owing to each community. For each member-state the European Union (EU) approves a quota that is then multiplied by the number of months of residence; the General Treasury of the Social Security then transfers the amounts corresponding during the third trimester of every year.
Pharmaceutical spending was up across Spain in 2006, with the highest increase noted in Murcia at 8.91%, followed by Madrid at 8.21%.
Pharmaceutical Spending by Community 2006 (mil., bil. euro) | ||
Region | February 2006-January 2007 | Percentage of increase 2006-2007 vs. 2005-2006 |
Andalucia | 1,755,121,741 | 5.44 |
Aragon | 345,044,163 | 7.10 |
Asturias | 305,196,698 | 6.78 |
Balearic Islands | 188,528,645 | 5.66 |
Cantabria | 135,437,688 | 6.73 |
Castilla-La Mancha | 509,434,138 | 7.12 |
Castilla y Leon | 630,197,917 | 5.51 |
Catalonia | 1,698,270,764 | 4.62 |
Canary Islands | 465,248,578 | 7.13 |
Extremadura | 298,026,510 | 6.66 |
Galicia | 788,069,669 | 6.81 |
Madrid | 1,123,017,484 | 8.21 |
Murcia | 361,558,289 | 8.91 |
Navarra | 145,365,352 | 6.48 |
Valencia | 1,367,845,051 | 7.34 |
Basque Country | 513,121,291 | 5.90 |
La Rioja | 73,640,368 | 7.05 |
Ceuta | 12,706,949 | 5.64 |
Melilla | 9,785,142 | 6.95 |
Total | 10,725,606.4 | 6.40 |
Figures may not add up due to rounding. | ||
Outlook and Implications
According to the latest figures provided by the Spanish Ministry of Work and Social Affairs, provinces are receiving record-high reimbursement premiums as a compensation for medical costs generated by foreign nationals residing in Spain. The regions seem to have voiced objections only to (non-reimbursed) expenses for nationals coming from outside the EU or countries with no bilateral agreements with Spain.
Medical costs associated with pensioners, who are the majority of EU immigrants in some areas of Spain, coupled with the effect of an ageing local population, are putting more and more pressure on healthcare facilities. According to results from a recent study, pensioners consume 55% of all medicines (see Spain: 20 August 2007: Pensioners Consume 55% of Medicines, Spanish Study Shows).It remains uncertain, however, whether reimbursement payments made to Spain are sufficient for the system to cope with the increased number of new immigrants, compounded by a local ageing population. Containing healthcare spending has come to the forefront of the Spanish political agenda in recent years, prompting the introduction of several widely criticised cost-cutting measures in the May 2003 Law of Cohesion and Quality of the National Healthcare System (Cohesion Law) and several new initiatives in 2005, culminating in the new Pharmaceutical Law approved by the Spanish Congress in June 2006 and in effect from March 2007.