Potential for the development of paid medical services to increase the availability of medical care in the regions of Russia

The article analyzes regional differences in the consumption of paid medical services in Russia and proposes an approach to assessing the affordability of paid medical care taking into account the income level of the population. To assess the growth potential in the consumption of paid medical services in each region, the ratio of the average per capita monetary income of the population and the volume of paid medical services per capita is considered. To take into account regional differences in the level of prices for medical services, the indicator of the "basic set of medical services" was introduced and its cost was calculated for each region. A typology of regions was developed based on the region's potential for the development of paid medical services, taking into account the level of income of the population. A group of regions was identified with a potential for developing paid medical services as an additional source of medical care. Measures were proposed to increase the affordability of paid medical services for wider groups of the population including low-income groups. Such measures include the expansion of tax incentives to support medical organizations and the population (exemption of medical organizations from property taxation, land and transport taxes, application of a zero rate on income tax, benefits on personal income tax, removal of restrictions on the amount of social tax deduction when paying for medical services etc.). In the future research, in order to obtain a more complete assessment of the population's need to improve the availability of medical services, including the paid ones, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the availability of free and paid medical care by region, including dynamics, and also to take into account the indicators of the subjective assessment of the quality and availability of medical care by the population.