Coverage of health care services in Russia and EU countries: comparative analysis

An analysis of universal health coverage (UHC) of the Russian population compared to EU countries for the period 2019–2020 is provided. The concept of three-dimensional measurement of health care coverage proposed by R. Busse, J. Schreyögg and C. Gericke is used as basis of the research. Within the framework of this methodology, three indicators are applied that determine the level of UHC development: 1) coverage of the population eligible for publicly funded health services; coverage of medical services included in the program of state guarantees; and personal medical expenses of the population. Comparative analysis was applied using quantitative methods on the databases of Rosstat, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The following conclusions were made. Medical assistance in Russia and the EU countries covers almost the entire population. Coverage of medical services (what kind of care is provided by the state guarantees programs) differs significantly in Russia and many EU countries. In Russia much fewer services and medical supplies are covered, which does not meet the needs of the population in medical care. In particular, this applies to outpatient care, where only half (52%) of the services are paid under the state guarantee program. In EU countries, on average, the state pays 78% of outpatient care costs. The medication supply to outpatients also lags far behind the average EU standards. The main reason for this situation is related to the fact that Russia provided insufficient funds on healthcare over the past twenty years (3.5% of GDP and 4.6% at the beginning of the pandemic), relying heavily on household spending.