Postindustrial Europe and its Health Care: Views of an Insider

In the industrialized countries, a rapidly growing and more expensive consumption of medical services, which runs parallel to economic development, is becoming manifest. This paper tries to establish a typical image of the six countries of the European Economic Community as to their economic and organizational aspects of personal health care. Apart from certain differences, common features can be identified. Though relatively few, comparable figures concerning health insurance reveal widely divergent policies within the member states. It is, however, difficult to prove to what extent these policy differences influence the consumption and the real costs of health care. In the field of health insurance, there is a tendency toward increased financing by the state. The entry of the United Kingdom, Denmark, and other countries with an important degree of state intervention, will undoubtedly influence the ultimate policy of the EEC. There are important differences in health manpower and personnel utilization, factors which have a strong influence on the development of costs. To achieve a more equal distribution of manpower, negotiations concerning the freedom of settlement of health professionals and the reciprocal recognition of licensing are under way. Finally, there are main differences in the provision of hospital care, its financing, and fee schedules.