Healthcare financing in core countries of BRICS: developing a mixed system

Abstract

The article examines healthcare financing in the core countries of BRICS in the current multi-faceted crisis, touching upon two aspects, namely the total volume of financing and the organizational framework in which it is carried out. It is shown that in the countries under consideration, despite the differences in the socio-economic situation, the government attaches great importance to the development of healthcare systems, and with a combination of public and private financing, the general trend is to strengthen state participation. This should help to overcome fragmentation of healthcare, considering the need to ensure universal access of the population to medical care. At the same time, the combinations of financing mechanisms used differ by country; the prevailing trend is the widespread use of social health insurance while in the private financing sector the share of “out of pocket” payments is decreasing. The active reforms of healthcare systems in the core countries of BRICS are at various stages of implementation and many of the tasks set are still far from being completed.