Comparison of European Union Public Health Systems

Abstract

This paper deals with public health systems of European Union Member States. We try to analyse and compare the public health budget allocation systems in existence in the EU. We analyse their differences and try to explain where the differences come from. We concentrate on the impact of differences in economic estimates in decision making on the allocation of scarce funds. We try to answer the question whether countries with lower income per capita compensate the lack of funds, lower capital endowment, and the impossibility to invest in equipment with larger labour endowment or improvement in human capital. On contraire, we find that some of the former transition countries experience a strong brain drain of medical personnel. Thus, former transition countries with relative stronger health personnel endowments tend to lose their qualified labour force to the more capital-endowed developed nations confirming the brain-drain hypothesis and refuting the hypothesis that labour is a relatively immobile production factor.

Approaches to Health Efficiency across the European Space through the Lens of the Health Budget Effort

“…A model of health system differentiation based on the identification of the economic inequalities has been addressed in several studies [ 27 , 28 , 29 ]. In the paper Differentiation in Healthcare Financing in EU Countries [ 27 ], the model for assessing economic inequality is presented by referring to the degree of concentration of the distributions which shows that there are major inequalities between the financing of health services over the period 2013–2017, a period in which Romania ranked last in terms of the share of health expenditure in GDP.…”

Changes in Consumers’ Food Practices during the COVID-19 Lockdown, Implications for Diet Quality and the Food System: A Cross-Continental Comparison

“…In Europe, there were many different approaches taken, depending on the country and phase of the epidemic. Two regions, Ireland and Great Britain, which have amongst the lowest hospital bed capacity in Europe [ 29 ], implemented different approaches at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although technically the UK implemented a national lockdown before Ireland [ 30 , 31 ], Ireland had been implementing a delay phase before this, including the closure of schools, universities and public houses.…”

Assessing social protection influence on health status in the European Union

“…Kwon and Kim (23) believe that enhancing the resilience and sustainability of the healthcare system is necessary through strategies targeting disease prevention and control, health monitoring, and efficient population information through the digitization of administrative and medical systems. Healthcare allocations differ based on economic performance, contributing to poor performance when the healthcare system is underfunded (24)(25)(26). A proactive policy in healthcare funding is necessary, as a healthy population leads to more robust economic growth and requires fewer social protection services.…”

“…Numerous studies have highlighted the positive association between social protection expenditure and health outcomes (24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29). Social protection programs, such as universal healthcare coverage, income support, and social welfare initiatives, are designed to mitigate socio-economic disparities and provide individuals with access to essential healthcare services and resources (33-37).…”