Written answers
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
Department of An Taoiseach
Health Expenditure
8:00 pm
Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 136: To ask the Taoiseach his estimate from the household budget survey of the aggregate expenditure by families on doctors, prescribed medicine or over the counter medicines, hospital consultants, hospitals or nursing homes and so on; and his estimate of spending under the different elements of health expenditure. [31188/07]
Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The Household Budget Survey (HBS), which is carried out every five years by the Central Statistics Office, provides information on the average weekly income and expenditure of all private households in the State. The table below provides information on the average weekly expenditure by private households on medical costs from the most recent HBS, which represented the period October 2004 to December 2005:
| Average Weekly household expenditure on medical costs â HBS 2004-2005 | |
| Category | ⬠|
| Medical fees: | |
| Doctor1 | 3.71 |
| Dentist | 2.70 |
| Optician | 0.32 |
| Acupuncturist | 0.07 |
| Chiropractor | 0.12 |
| Massage | 0.14 |
| Physiotherapist | 0.37 |
| Orthodontist | 0.15 |
| Speech therapist | 0.03 |
| Other medical fees | 0.18 |
| Total medical fees (A) | 7.79 |
| Medicines: | |
| Medicines on prescription | 4.54 |
| Other medicines (e.g. painkillers, cough mixtures etc) | 1.78 |
| Medical disinfectants | 0.13 |
| Vitamins and supplements | 1.01 |
| Alternative/complimentary medicine | 0.37 |
| Total medicines (B) | 7.83 |
| Hospital/residential care | |
| Hospital charges (before insurance refunds) | 6.92 |
| Payments for stay in residental care | 0.13 |
| Total hospital/residential care (C) | 7.05 |
| Total Medical Costs (A + B + C) | 22.67 |
| Health insurance refunds2 (D) | -6.25 |
| Net Medical costs (A + B + C - D) | 16.42 |
| 1Includes hospital consultant fees. | |
| 2Includes overall medical insurance refunds. |
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