‘We also identified a significant increase over time in the percentage of people who incurred catastrophic health expenditures (greater than 30 percent of the household income) in the Czech Republic, Italy, and Spain…
These findings indicate the substantial weakening of financial protection for people ages fifty and older in European health systems after the Great Recession.’
From ‘The Great Recession And Increased Cost Sharing In European Health Systems’, published in Health Affairs.
What continues to surprise me is how long it takes to appreciate the catastrophe that has been allowed to unfold, without any good reason.