COST -CONTAINMENT IN HEALTH CARE: The Case of Spain from the eighties up to 1997

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evolution of health care expenditure in Spain during the period 1980-1997, and henceforth to comment on the cost containment measures put forward to control its growth. The paper is divided into three separate sections. The first offers a brief description of the Spanish Health Care System, with emphasis placed on the issue of expenditure control and health planning targets. The second part outlines a set of cost containment measures that has accompanied the process of extending universal health care coverage which occured during the mentioned period and which has helped keep public expenditure under control. Finally, the third part describes some of the more recent proposals for reform of the Spanish Health Care Sector.