How much do we spend on health?
An ever-increasing fortune, according to this new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
You could spend hours wading through all the stats, but here are a few snippets:
• In the financial year 2007–08, Australia‘s health expenditure totalled $103.6 billion, or 9.1% of gross domestic product (GDP). A decade earlier, it was 7.8% of GDP.
• In 2007, Australia spent a similar proportion of GDP on health as Italy, Norway, Sweden and New Zealand, and more than the United Kingdom. The US, of course, is the big spender – outlaying 16% of GDP on health.
• Over the decade to 2007, the government contribution to the funding of health care in Australia edged up by 0.3 percentage points, while the average government share for the OECD overall increased by 0.7 percentage points.
• During 2007–08, estimated per person expenditure on health averaged $4,874, which was $328 more per person than in the previous year.
• In 2007–08, governments provided $71.2 billion or 68.7% of the total health expenditure in Australia. The contribution of the Australian Government was $44.8 billion (43.2% of total funding) and state, territory and local governments contributed $26.4 billion (25.5%). Non-government funding sources (individuals, private health insurance and other non-government sources) provided the remaining $32.4 billion (31.3%).
• During 2007–08, the total value of the Federal rebate for private health insurance was estimated at $3.6 billion.
• During 2007–08, private hospitals received 47.8% ($3.8 billion) of the $7.9 billion in funding provided by private health insurance funds. The funds’ other major areas of expenditure were dental services (11.8% or $0.9 billion), administration (11.2% or $0.9 billion) and medical services (10.3% or $0.8 billion). The funds’ spending on administration was 20% higher than in 2006–07.
• Australia‘s average out-of-pocket expenditure per person ($393) was $74 below the weighted OECD average in 1997, but $49 above the weighted average in 2007.
