Introduction: Different studies show that those at the lower end of the income distribution have the greatest needs for health care but usually those in higher income groups use more health care services especially specialised ones. The aim of this article is to investigate socio-economic health inequalities in the utilisation of health care services in Bulgaria.
Material and Methods: Data from inquiry are used to analyse the socio-economic health inequality. The inquiry is conducted in 2014 among 618 citizens of Nord-East region in Bulgaria.
Results: Values of odds ratio show that people at the lower end of the income distribution use more health care services except in the dental care. Differences in utilization of outpatient and inpatient services are measured at different income groups through Student t-test.
Discussion: Our analyses suggest that income inequalities are related with health inequalities in the utilisation of health care services in Bulgaria. Financial burden of private health expenditure creates barriers in access to health care services especially for poorer part of the population, uninsured people and other vulnerable groups.
Conclusion: Although the health sector faces serious challenges with income-related health inequalities, the policy measures are still inadequate.
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