Financial Protection in Russia and European Countries

Abstract

This article is devoted to a comparative analysis of the financial protection of households when using medical services in Russia and in a number of European Union countries. The purpose of our study was to analyze the main indicators of the financial hardship of households when they need to save for health services. Among the key indicators that determine the level of protection of families from financial burdens when using health-­related services, the following are selected: out-of-pocket spending on health care, catastrophic out-of-pocket payments and impoverishing payments, and index of essential health services. The indicators of financial protection in Russia, when compared with many EU countries, look satisfactory both in terms of catastrophic spending and in terms of the indicator of the impoverishment of the population due to personal expenses for medical care. However, the out-of-pocket health spending amounts to 40 % in Russia. Such a burden on households points at a weak financial protection in the country. The satisfactory performance of the two indicators above is explained not so much by the financial wealth of the households or by the state support of the population, but by the fact that many households cannot afford to spend money on medical services. The low index of essential health services confirms this conclusion. The index is 63 % in Russia, and it is more than 80 % in the EU countries. . This means that with fairly good indicators of financial protection, a significant part of the Russian population does not use healthcare services at all, even when confronted with serious illnesses.