Financing Health Care - A Dialogue between South Eastern Europe and Germany

Abstract

The health care financing system has direct impact on the accessibility of care for people in need. Poor access to health services rapidly leads to poverty and smaller future chances for a decent standard of living. In short, the way health care is financed has a strong influence where in society the cut-off point is that divides the winners and losers.

These implications of a health care financing system had to be born in mind by eastern European transition economies facing the extraordinary challenges of redesigning a health care system in a short time frame since the 1990s. More than a decade later, experiences of south-eastern European countries in financing the health system are available for research, but remained in many cases not well analyzed.

This book intends to close this gap by taking a deeper look into these systems showing how different the approaches were that these countries have taken. The book also covers various issues relevant for the German health financing system and thus becomes a valuable platform for dialogue between south-eastern European countries and Germany.

Keywords: health financing, health insurance, south east europe, Germany, Serbia, Albania, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Macedonia, Bulgaria, user fees, self-help, old-age care, dental care

JEL Classification: H55, I19