Overview

The extension of universal health coverage along its three dimensions – population coverage, benefit coverage and financial protection – has dominated health policy agendas in recent years. However, decisions on the benefits covered by publicly financed schemes have only recently received increased attention, being supported by evidence-based approaches such as health technology assessment (HTA) to ensure quality and “value for money” of care. Yet, new developments in the area of high-cost speciality medicines have highlighted the limitations of HTA in guiding the optimal allocation of finite resources, posing a challenge to “universality” of coverage and requiring increased efforts towards aligned HTA in Europe.