A study published in the October issue of Health Policy Journal, co-authored by Dr. Péter Gaál, President of MEMT, evaluates healthcare revenue collection in 29 countries.
While current research primarily focuses on the accessibility of healthcare services, less attention has been given to how revenues are collected to finance a country’s healthcare expenditures. This study examines the progressivity of revenue collection from publicly funded sources, including income taxes, social insurance contributions (often payroll taxes), and consumption taxes (such as VAT).
The authors developed a methodology to create a composite index assessing the progressivity or regressivity of these three revenue sources across 29 high-income countries. They utilized multiple data sources, including secondary data and information provided by national representatives of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies through the Health Systems and Policy Monitor program.
The findings indicate that countries with more progressive income tax systems tended to implement multiple income tax brackets and had greater differences in marginal tax rates between brackets. More progressive social insurance revenue collection systems did not impose upper income limits and either exempted lower-income individuals or reduced their contributions. Regarding consumption taxes—primarily based on VAT rates in European countries—the only observed pattern was that countries with the lowest levels of income inequality tended to apply the least regressive consumption tax policies.
The authors hope that future research will further explore the equity of publicly funded healthcare revenue collection, as this remains a relatively neglected issue.
The full article is available at the following link: Health Policy Journal