Iceland

Iceland has a centralized health system with universal coverage, covering all residents. The health system is mostly publicly funded with a partly integrated purchaser-provider relationship where the government serves as both the payer and the owner of most healthcare organisations. 

The main bodies responsible for health policy, financing, planning and regulation are Parliament, the Ministry of Health, and a mix of public and private service providers, although publicly provided care is predominant. The Ministry of Health has major policy-making and executive authority, and its agencies are responsible for health policy, administration and supervision. In particular, the Directorate of Health handles supervision of healthcare services, as well as a variety of tasks aimed at health promotion and improving public health.

 The country is divided into seven districts for health-care organization purposes. Each district contains one or more healthcare institutions providing general healthcare services, such as primary care, nursing home services and general hospital services. Co-payments are required for primary care visits, outpatient care and outpatient pharmaceuticals, although exemptions and reductions are applied for vulnerable groups.

Primary health care is formally designated as a patient’s first point of contact with the healthcare system. It is provided in public primary care centres throughout the country and a few private primary health-care clinics and private GPs operating in the Capital Region. Small clinics in rural areas often refer their patients to larger clinics in the health region or to the nearest hospital if they cannot provide needed services. Outpatient care, provided by private medical specialists, is a significant feature of the health care system, with patients having direct access to medical specialists. All hospitals providing inpatient and ambulatory care are public hospitals. The Landspítali University Hospital in Reykjavik is the country's main hospital.