Long-term care, Slovenia, 2017

Internationally comparable data on long-term care expenditure, which is one of the functions of health care in the context of the System of Health Accounts (SHA) methodology, increased in Slovenia in 2017 by 3.1% compared to 2016 and amounted to EUR 521 million. Real GDP growth was in the same period 4.8% and long-term care expenditure as a share of GDP stayed about the same as in 2016, i.e. 1.21%.

In 2017, 73.4% of long-term care expenditure was financed from public funds and the remaining 26.6% from private sources. The funding structure differed by 0.6 p.p. compared to 2016, i.e. due to the decrease in public funds and, consequently, the increase in private sources. Furthermore, in 2017 both public and private sources of funding long-term care grew, public by 2.3% and private by 5.4% over 2016. The main providers of funds for long-term care are, as before, the social security funds, which covered 48.7% of long-term care expenditure in 2017.

Expenditure on the health part of long-term care once as high as expenditure on the social part of long-term care

The ratio between the health part and the social part of long-term care does not change significantly from year to year; in 2017 it was 66 vs 34, which is about the same as in 2016. The social part of long-term care includes assistance care services (the so-called IADL services or help by instrumental activities of daily living, e.g. help with shopping, laundry, etc.) that allows individuals to live independently in their own house or apartment. On the other hand, the health part of long-term care includes medical or nursing care and personal care services (the so-called ADL services or help by basic activities of daily living, e.g. help in washing, dressing, etc.). They are provided by different institutions, in the context of day-care services and in the context of home-based services, where also cash benefits are included. In 2017, in the context of long-term health care most of the expenditure was earmarked for the implementation of long-term care in institutions (nearly three quarters), followed by long-term care at home (a little more than a quarter) and finally day-care services (about half a percent).


Almost 80% of total long-term care expenditure goes to various institutions offering such services

As regards the method of implementation or the provision of long-term care, in terms of the structure of total long-term care expenditure in 2017, most of the expenditure was earmarked for the provision of long-term care in institutions (77.6%), mostly in homes for the elderly (58.2%), followed by long-term care in different social institutions (15.3%) and finally in hospitals (4.1%). The rest of the expenditure (22.4%) was intended for the provision of home-based long-term care, either in the form of services or as care provided by providers of community nursing care, providers of home help service, personal assistance and family assistants or in the form of cash benefits. Compared to 2016, in 2017 there was a slight increase in the share of home-based long-term care expenditure (by 0.2 p.p.).

In 2017, there were around 1,800 more long-term care recipients than in 2016, i.e. 64,433. The share of recipients receiving long-term care in institutions was the largest at 35.5% (or around 22,900). They were followed by recipients of long-term care at home with a share of 34.9% or almost 22,500, and recipients who were receiving only cash allowances to cover different services in the context of long-term care with a little more than a quarter or around 18,500. The actual number of recipients of cash benefits in the context of long-term care is much higher (a little more than 43,700), but the final number of recipients follows the rule if the recipient receives both a service and a cash benefit, they are counted only in the service; if the recipient receives two cash benefits, they are counted only at one, etc.