Health care funding reforms in Croatia: a case of mistaken priorities

This study provides an overview of funding mechanisms in Croatian health care and analyses them in terms of sustainability, efficiency and equity. The study presents an in depth investigation of problems facing funding health care in Croatia: high expenditure, inadequate financial resources, continuous deficits of the state insurance fund, lack of transparency in funding, an aging population, etc. Furthermore, the study provides a critical overview of reforms that have been implemented to counter those issues from 1990 to 2002. The study argues that the implemented reforms over relied on shifting health expenditure from public to private sources in addressing financial deficits in the system. The study argues that, instead, the reforms should have focused more on curbing rising expenditure in health care providers. Emphasis has been put on the extent to which the reforms affected the conceptual-social foundations of the system. Finally, the paper provides recommendations for policy makers in Croatia and presents an overview of Croatian experiences that might be of interest to researchers and policy makers internationally.