Health Policy

Danish health policy is dominated by a national health service that combines a tax-financed universal health insurance with healthcare delivery through public hospitals and primary care physicians operating in private practices. This basic structure has been stable for almost half a century and is likely to remain so due to a strong consensus among voters and the political parties about the public system. Underneath the wide consensus, however, there is a ‘submerged’ political conflict and party competition between the left and the right about the degree to which the public healthcare system should use private providers and marketized patient rights. In part because of party competition and strong patient rights, there has been a significant drive towards higher total health costs over the past two decades. The Danish healthcare system is thus hardly challenged from political contestation since few politicians would dare to propose a real alternative. Nonetheless, the healthcare system is challenged by structural factors similar to what other countries face, such as an ageing population, as well as difficulties in controlling costs related to both pharmaceuticals and a scarce supply of healthcare professionals.