EU, gastos em saúde abrandam

Nos EU, o crescimanto dos gastos em saúde nos últimos dois anos é o mais baixo dos últimos cinquenta. Esta constatação tem servido de motivação ao debate para apurar se este abrandamento é consistente, perdurável, resultante de medidas estruturais introduzidas no sistema ou se, se trata de um efeito temporário resultante da actual crise da economia.

“The projections have gone down, and the main reason for that is that economic growth has been lower than we’d initially thought,” says Medicare’s Keehan. However, he notes, that there are other changes that have factored into the lower their projected spending -- ones that could have a more permanent effect on cost growth. Drug companies haven’t released any blockbuster pharmaceuticals lately, and, as their biggest sellers have gone generic, spending there has dropped. Hospitals are taking some steps to become more efficient. For the first time in a decade, the number of hospital-acquired infections is declining.link