4% households in Finland face terrible health spending : WHO

Finns are more likely to face financial hardship due to health costs than rest of western Europe, according to a new report published by World Health Organization (WHO), Europe.

The report shows that nearly 4% of households in Finland experience catastrophic health spending, said the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in a joint press release on Thursday referring to the WHO report.

Catastrophic spending refers to out-of-pocket payments that are large in relation to a household’s capacity to pay for health care.

Catastrophic spending affects poorer people, older households and long-term unemployed people the most.

The report “Can people afford to pay for health care? New evidence on financial protection in Finland” is based on data collected every 5 years by Statistics Finland.

It is part of a series of country-based reviews monitoring financial protection in health systems across the WHO European Region.