Overview

The global economic crisis has affected most sectors, including the health sector. Although rather unpopular, some governments have responded with policies aimed at reducing public spending on health care. Some of the more common reforms across countries have endeavoured to moderate the growing budgets for health services; rationalize the benefit packages; increase the share of health expenditure paid by private households; and implement wide-reaching reforms in the pharmaceutical market.

Contents includes:

• Health policy in the financial crisis
• Coping with austerity (Ireland)
• Crisis reforms (Estonia)
• A time of crisis (Greece)
• A window for health reforms (Czech Republic)
• The professional qualifications directive: the patient perspective
• The evolution of obesity (Spain)
• High-performing chronic care (Denmark)
• Competition on price (the Netherlands)
• Pharmaceutical market reforms (Portugal)