A methodological note on combining health and social care expenditures into a single statistic for policy-making purposes

Current national expenditure series in the health sector focus predominantl y on spending for medical services. However, as the percentage of elderly i ndividuals grows, national policy makers will increasingly require an expen diture series which includes combined expenditure for social care as well a s medical expenditures. In one country, Sweden, national policy makers have begun to relate policy decisions to a 12.0%(1996) figure for combined heal th and social care expenditures. Calculating such a combined figure present s a number of methodological issues, such as which social care services to include and how to reflect donated care from relatives and friends. An inte rnational comparison of this new health and social care figure would enable national decision makers to judge better the efficiency and effectiveness of current policy.