News
Cooperation between IMAD and the World Health Organization in the preparation of a national study on affordable access to health care in Slovenia
The Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development of the Republic of Slovenia (IMAD) and the Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), have prepared a report on affordable access to health care in Slovenia. The report, entitled Can people afford to pay for health care? New evidence on financial protection in Slovenia, forms part of a broader set of national studies examining whether, and to what extent, health care is affordable for populations across Europe and Central Asia.
Through its Barcelona Office for Health Systems Financing, the WHO Regional Office for Europe monitors financial protection in more than 40 countries. Financial protection is central to universal health coverage, an indicator of the Sustainable Development Goals, part of the European Pillar of Social Rights and at the centre of the European Programme of Work, WHO’s strategic framework for the European Region.
The report covers the period from 2012 to 2025 using data from household budget surveys conducted between 2012 and 2022 (source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia), data on unmet need for health services up to 2024 and information on health coverage policies in Slovenia up to May 2025.
The results indicate that, in terms of out-of-pocket health expenditure and catastrophic health spending, Slovenia ranks among the countries with the highest levels of affordable access to health care. However, despite a declining trend, the share of unmet needs for health care and dental care exceeds the EU average, mainly due to long waiting times.
The report was prepared by Eva Helena Šarec (IMAD) and Dušan Jošar (Ministry of Health), in cooperation with editors Maria Serrano Gregori and Sarah Thomson from the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Barcelona Office. As members of UHC Watch, a digital platform tracking progress on affordable access to health care, they also contribute to the annual assessment of financial protection in health care in Slovenia.
• A summary of the publication (available in Slovenian and English) is published on the World Health Organization’s UHC Watch – Resources website.
• The full publication (in English), UHC Watch – Slovenia and Can people afford to pay for health care? New evidence on financial protection in Slovenia
• A comparative analysis and publications for other EU Member States are available at: UHC Watch - European Union
• Data, analyses, and other resources are available at: UHC Watch