The failure to discriminate between undesirable drivers of expenditure which do need tackling – such as the high rents that pump up the housing benefit bill – and other influences – such as a rising birthrate – which constitute sound reason to increase aspects of spending, may seem like a design flaw.
"Look across the whole welfare state and ask what are the drivers of expenditure," he explained.
Model 1 shows that whilst age, sex and regions are all significant drivers of expenditure, gender (female) had the greatest impact (β = 0.107).
The availability of informal care and the setting of formal care as well as associated unit costs were important drivers of expenditure.
Hospital costs, including inpatient rehabilitation, were driver of expenditure, accounting for 89.5% of total costs.
Total costs were analysed including and excluding hospital costs, to determine whether hospital costs were an important driver of expenditure.
Hospital costs (€6,340) represent the main driver of expenditure, accounting for 89.5% of the total direct costs (these costs also include inpatient rehabilitation costs, which could not be separated from management costs for the acute event).
The commission has no control over physicians' decisions, the primary drivers of health expenditures.
Yet, in addition to the obvious microeconomic and econometric issues that are still to be resolved in respect of the drivers of health expenditure, there are also some important macroeconomic dimensions of health expenditure growth that are yet to be explored.
A systematic review of the factors influencing pharmaceutical expenditure identified that drug utilisation; drug therapies; price; and new drugs; are the main drivers of pharmaceutical expenditure [2], and population growth and aging have been found to be additional factors in Ireland [3].
