Influencia del grado de dependencia sobre el gasto sanitario y social en Castilla y León

Abstract

This report analyzes the cost of 6 social benefits and 12 health services according to the degree of dependency in 2011, for the population aged 65 years and older in Spain and in Castilla y León. The main purpose is to determine the influence of the dependency degree over total healthcare expenditure, as well as if there are significant differences between Castilla y León and national average. First of all, the application of the Dependency Ranking Scale reveals that although the cohort aged 65 years and older shows a higher prevalence in Castilla y León than in Spain, they also enjoy a better health status, because the number of nondependent people is also considerably higher. Next, we compute the monetary worth of healthcare services using information from the Survey of Disability, Autonomy and Situations of Dependency (2008) and the National Health Survey (2006) updating sample weights to 2011. We observe that the transition from no-dependency to moderate dependence implies a sharp increase in healthcare expenditure both in Spain and in Castilla and León. However, the cost by one thousand inhabitants derived from healthcare attention to severe or great dependent people is substantially higher in Castilla y León. On the other, the weight of social expenditure over total health care expenditure is higher in Castilla y León for total population and also for great dependent people. This fact can be interpreted as sign of higher degree of healthcare coordination is in Castilla y León.