Rioja set to take control of its own health spending:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Rioja in Spain looks set to become the next region to take control of its own health spending. Rioja is currently managed by Insalud, the national health agency. Felipe Ruiz, the new head of Rioja's health department, says he hopes to draw up plans for the economic transfer and evaluate costs in 1996. Among his priorities will be AIDS, drug addiction and cardiovascular disease prevention campaigns, says a report in Diario Medico. Seven regions currently manage their own health budgets, the last of which, the Canary Isles, took control in March 1994 (see Clinica supplement October 1994, p 15).