Financing Health Care in the European Union

In this study conducted for the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, Thomson et al. (health and health policy, London School of Economics and Political Science and European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies) examine three health care financing aspects--collection of funds, pooling of funds, and purchasing health care services--as well as coverage, benefits, and cost sharing, to understand the organization of health care financing in the Member States of the European Union and how strengthening the design of financing can improve health system sustainability. They discuss the problem of sustainability, the principal financing arrangements and reform trends in recent years and their capacity to help ensure fiscal sustainability, and recommendations for reforms. The appendix summarizes the health care financing systems of each of the 27 EU Member States. No index is provided. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)