What is the price "free healthcare" in Greece

In Sweden and Denmark, 85% of all health care costs are covered by the state. How about in our country?

Alas, in Greece, 31% of health care costs are compulsory insurance. Despite having “free health care” in the country, more than a third (36%) of the money for health care goes out of the pockets of Greeks, according to disappointing data from Eurostat. For comparison: health care costs on average in Europe are 1/5, in Greece – 1/3! That is, we have the highest spending on private health care services.

Similar data is recorded by the OECD – Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation. Second only to Estonia, over the past decade, Greece has steadily held its own at the top of the EU’s health care gap. This indicator is related to price, distance and waiting time – 81% of the population, while the average for EU in 2019 was only 1.7%.

An important role is played here by the monthly limit on the number of visits to one doctor covered by EOPYY, which also includes the number of referrals for tests and various types of examinations. This scheme was introduced back in 2012 and meant that Greeks would go to a private doctor or diagnostic center and pay for services out of their own pocket.

A similar situation develops with medicines: private spending on medicines in Greece is 13% of all health care spending, in the European Union – less than 4%. The indicators state the sad fact that households must bear expenses that they cannot afford, which is far from the best characterization of the level of health care in the country, writes newsbreak.gr.

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