Report: Health
 System Financing & Expenditure

The 
Bermuda
 Health
 Council
 [BHeC] today [Aug.11]
 announced
 the 
release
 of 
the 
National
 Health
 Accounts 
Report
 2011.

 The 
report 
was 
published 
for 
the
 first
 time
 last
 year,
 as
 part
 of
 the
 Council’s
 mandate
 to
 monitor
 Bermuda’s
 health
 system.


The
 report 
details 
health
 system 
costs 
for 
the 
fiscal 
year 
ending
 31st
 March 
2010
 [FYE
 2010]. 
It
 also
 explains 
changes 
since 
2004, and provides
 an
 analysis 
of 
Bermuda 
health
 system 
financing
 and
 expenditure. It
 provides
 a
 breakdown
 of
 where
 the
 money
 has
 come
 from
 to
 pay
 for healthcare, 
and 
how 
that 
money 
was
 spent.

Some
 of 
the 
key 
findings 
of 
the 
report
 are:

• Bermuda’s 
total 
health
 spending 
was
 $628.4 
million
• This 
amounted 
to 
11.0% 
of
 GDP
• Health
 expenditure 
per‐person 
was 
$9,734
• This 
represents
 a
 9% 
increase 
from 
FYE 2009,
 when 
total 
health 
expenditure 
was 
$576.3 million, representing
 9.5%
 of
 GDP 
and
 per‐capita 
health
 expenditure
 was
 $8,950.

Funding
 sources:

• 70%
 of 
financing 
was 
from 
the
 private 
sector 
[$438.3
 million]
• 30%
 of 
financing 
was
 from 
the
 public 
sector 
[$190.1
 million]
• Health 
insurance 
accounted
 for
 53%
 of 
financing 
sources
 [$334.8
 million]
• Individual 
out‐of‐pocket 
payments 
represented
1 3%
 of 
funding
 [$80 
million]
• Non‐profit
 organizations
 contributed 
4%
of
 health 
financing 
[$23.3 
million]

Spending
:

• 52%
 of
 health 
spending 
was 
in 
the 
private 
sector 
health 
[$326.4
 million]
• 48%
 of 
health
 spending 
was 
in 
the
 public
 sector 
[$301.9 
million]
• Bermuda 
Hospitals 
Board 
accounted
 for
 40% 
of 
total
 health 
spending
• Overseas
 Care 
accounted 
for
 15%
 of
 health 
spending
• Private, 
local health 
providers
 accounted
 for
 24%
 of
 overall
 expenditure
• Prescription
 drugs 
represented
 7%
of
total
health
spending

Projections:

• If 
health 
spending 
continues 
to
 grow
 at
 the
 same 
rate 
experienced 
in 
recent 
years, 
by 
2020 it 
is
 estimated
 that 
health
expenditure 
could 
reach
 $1.5
 billion
 dollars
• This 
would 
equal 
$22,600 
per‐person, 
if
 population 
size
 remains

Linda Merritt, chairman of the Bermuda Health Council, said, “One of the recommendations of the Oughton Report in 1996 was that a Bermuda Health Council should be established whose function would be, in part, to monitor health costs. We are very pleased to be living up to this mandate in publishing the second National Health Accounts Report.

“In addition, alongside the full, technical report, we have published a one‐page ‘In Brief’ summary of the key findings. This is especially relevant for the general public, who are impacted by health costs on a day‐to‐day basis and want to know where their healthcare dollars are going.

We are determined to assist the public in understanding the big picture when it comes to this vital issue, and look forward to continued public discussion.”

Dr. Jennifer Attride‐Stirling, chief executive officer of the Bermuda Health Council, said: “BHeC is committed to providing stakeholders and the public with the information necessary to understand, measure and assess our health system.

“The National Health Accounts Report is one of the most vital parts of health system monitoring, and it is a key function of the Council.”

“This report proved highly popular in 2010 when it was first published, and we look forward to continuing to bring relevant information to the health sector to drive forward policy decisions to contain health system costs.”

The full 21-page report is below, click ‘Fullscreen’ for greater clarity:

#Health #HealthInsurance

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