1. This methodology is an identity (health expenditure growth equals health price growth x population growth x utilization/intensity growth); hence one cannot attribute causality. However, from a general health care policy perspective this methodology provides useful information about the relative magnitudes of price inflation, population growth, and growth in utilization/intensity of services as the driving forces behind health care expenditure growth. The population component only measures changes in population size. Growth in spending due to changes in population composition (for example, aging) is picked up by the utilization/intensity factor. For a description of this methodology see Social Expenditure 1960-1990 Problems of Growth and Control
(
Paris
:
OECD
,
1985
),
44
.