Cost and expenditure in the Moroccan health system

Abstract

Given that households are still the main source of health funding in Morocco, a number of measures are currently being taken to slow down the increase in health costs and expenditure in the national health system over the years. Morocco has seen a significant improvement in infant and maternal mortality rates, the development of the pharmaceutical industry and an improvement in the range of healthcare services on offer. To achieve this, reducing household spending on health means extending universal health coverage (UHC) to all social categories, as well as allocating a budget for human resources, infrastructure and equipment to the most disadvantaged areas and overcoming the major problem of territorial disparities.

The aim of our paper is to provide an analysis of health costs and expenditure in the Moroccan health system, both to identify a sound financing model and to guarantee the effectiveness and efficiency of the expenditure allocated.

However, in order to guarantee the viability and sustainability of the healthcare financing system, a coherent model needs to be put in place, taking into account the areas of care with the highest costs/expenditure. In this sense, the budgetary effort in favour of health has increased considerably over the years, but this is conditioned by other endogenous and exogenous factors. In this article, we examine the underlying factors and the evolution of health expenditures, as well as their distribution by type of care provision, with the aim of deepening the analysis from the supply-side perspective. We then address the concepts of efficiency and effectiveness in the optimization of health spending, with a focus on the most appropriate types of care. The comparative approach between the Moroccan healthcare system and those of other MENA countries proves to be crucial in identifying countries that achieve better resource allocation while taking into account each country's specific characteristics—particularly in terms of quality of life, chronic disease management, and infant mortality reduction. This article constitutes an empirical literature review based on data from national health accounts and health expenditure execution reports, with the objective of providing a comprehensive assessment of Morocco’s health policy.

Classification JEL: H51, I14, I18.

Paper type: Theoretical Research.