Higher out-of-pocket costs threaten universal health coverage in 'missing middle' nations

(Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation) One in six countries is expected to have substantially high out-of-pocket spending as a proportion of total health expenditures by 2050, according to a new scientific study.As low-income countries increase their GDP, they often face the 'missing middle' problem: As they receive less development assistance, they are not able to fill the resulting gap due to slower growth in government health spending. As a result, many low- and middle-income countries rely more heavily on out-of-pocket spending.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news