Effects of health care decentralization in Spain from a citizens’ perspective

Antón, José-Ignacio and Muñoz de Bustillo, Rafael and Fernández-Macías, Enrique and Rivera, Jesús (2012): Effects of health care decentralization in Spain from a citizens’ perspective.

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the impact of the decentralization of the public national health system in Spain on citizens’ satisfaction with different dimensions of primary and hospital care. Using micro-data from the Health Barometer 1996-2009 and taking advantage of the exogeneity of the different pace of decentralization across Spain, we find that, in general, decentralization has not improved citizens’ satisfaction with different features of the health services. In fact, the only significant -though small- effects found were of the opposite sign, i.e., a reduction in satisfaction as a result of decentralization, regarding the following aspects of medical care: assistance in the primary care centers, waiting time before consultation, ease of getting appointments, confidence transmitted by doctors and the number of persons per hospital room.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: health care; decentralization; Spain; citizens’ satisfaction
• Subjects: H - Public Economics > H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies > H51 - Government Expenditures and Health; H - Public Economics > H1 - Structure and Scope of Government > H11 - Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government; H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government ; Intergovernmental Relations > H75 - State and Local Government: Health ; Education ; Welfare ; Public Pensions

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