In 2021, the contribution of private health to the gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to RD$106,610 million, which is equivalent to 58% of the total contribution of the health sector.
Private health services have a great weight in the Dominican economy, according to an analysis carried out by the Regional Center for Sustainable Economic Strategies (CREES)based on information from the central bank from DR.
It points out that in 2021 the private health contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to RD$106,610 million, which is equivalent to 58% of the total health contribution in that year, while in 2007 it was RD$20,713 million.
He states that a look at the contribution of the health sector in its two distinctions (private and public) to GDP offers an idea of the weight that each one has in the Dominican economy.
It indicates that historically private health has represented the majority of the total contribution of this activity to the economy, with 63.5% of the total health contribution, on average, in the period 2007-2021, which means that the provision of health services Private medical consultation and treatment has predominated in the country in the period shown.
In the 2007-2021 period, on average, the private health service represented 1.8% of GDP and the public health service represented 1% of GDP, thus adding an average share of the total health sector of 2.8% of GDP.
The contributions of public health to the economy went from RD$13,285 million in 2007 to RD$77,294 million in 2021.
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He explained that the contribution of private health services is equivalent to the gross production value of this activity, which, in turn, represents the income received for all the service produced in this activity and acquired by citizens.
He specified that this means all private health spending that, to a large extent, is covered by the Health Risk Administrators (ARS).
The high incidence of private health services highlights the great problem of leaving the population without this service without temporary access.
He explains that, according to the methodological document of national accounts of the Dominican Republic, health includes the activities of hospitals, doctors and dentists and other human health care activities and is divided into private health, which offers health services through private sector companies engaged in this activity, which sell their production and/or provide their services at a determined price, and public health, whose services are provided by the Government free of charge or at prices that are not economically significant through your hospital network.
