The impact of social health determinants on health expenditure

Abstract

This work was conducted to investigate the impact of adverse social determinants on health expenditure. Adverse social determinants refer to vulnerable population groups facing material and/or social exclusion. Methodologically, the study used a static, fixed-effects panel model with publicly available data on 32 countries, mainly EU member states, with a time frame from 2003 onwards. While adverse social determinants were associated with weak decreasing public health expenditures, national health systems showed neutralizing effects. Voluntary expenditures were unaffected. These results underline the crucial role of public health offerings and national health systems as a source of equitable access to health services.