Private healthcare carries stiff price tag
Nine out of 10 poor households in Greece choose to use state rather than private health services, as does one in every two non-poor households, according to a report by EFG Eurobank. Its Department of Economic Studies and Forecasts, in a report titled «Economy and Markets,» notes that poor households choose to use the state health service as it is cheaper than private services, unlike wealthier households which can afford private healthcare. Based on 2004-2005 National Statistics Service data, the report concludes that the households that spend on private healthcare are those with few financial restrictions and those who own their own home and have no mortgage payments to meet. Those who are either paying off a mortgage or living in rented accommodation choose to spend less on healthcare, regardless of their income. The relation between spending on health and socioeconomic features is not the same for poor and non-poor households, the report suggests. Households mainly supported by a pensioner form the majority of poor households, while most non-poor households are mainly supported by an employed person aged between 45 and 64 years. Therefore, poor households spend on healthcare when they become more vulnerable due to age and not earlier, unlike non-poor households which start healthcare outlays from an early age as they can afford it. It is for the same reason that the poor households spending on health are mainly two-member families, while most non-poor households spending on health have more than two members. Finally, the report suggests that more households in the countryside use state health services than private and attributes that to the limited access that rural people have to private medical institutions.
