How can Turkey create fiscal space for its health care system? A qualitative approach

ABSTRACT

In this study, opinions of participant stakeholders regarding fiscal space in the Turkish health care system were revealed benefiting from qualitative study techniques. According to the findings of the study, increases in health expenditures, health care market characteristics, equity in health care, insufficient funds for health care, demographic changes and health reforms were prominent reasons for creating fiscal space in the Turkish health care system. Majority of the participants stated that creating fiscal space in the Turkish health care system had a priority. Measures for income increases, reform-based measures, measures for expense decreases and budget-based measures were expressed by the participant stakeholders as ways of creating fiscal space methods in the Turkish health care system. By this study, for the first time in Turkey, creating fiscal space in health care was investigated based on stakeholders’ opinions.

KEYWORDS:

• Health financing
• fiscal space
• sustainability
• stakeholders’ views

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Murat Konca

Murat Konca has been worked as a research assistant in Hacettepe University Health Care Management Department, in Ankara, Turkey for five years. Murat Konca’s fields of study are health economics, research methods in health services and health care management.

Hasan Hüseyin Yildirim

Hasan Hüseyin Yıldırım is a professor in the Department of Health Care Management at the University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey. Hasan Hüseyin Yıldırım's interest areas are health economics, health policy and health care management.