Economic governance: helping European healthcare systems to deliver better health and wealth?

The economic crisis is forcing decision-makers across the EU to make hard choices on where to slash public spending and on how to make public services more cost-effective. The healthcare sector is a prime candidate as it accounts for around 10% of EU member states’ GDP, a figure which is only expected to increase. However, just cutting healthcare spending without a comprehensive vision is short-sighted and runs the risk of increasing healthcare costs and costs to society and the economy in the long term.

In this Policy Brief, Annika Ahtonen argues that the healthcare systems across the EU are in a need of a reform, and this requires a more thorough understanding of the cost-effective drivers for health, the relationship between inputs and outputs in a healthcare system, and which measures provide the best return on investment – that is, health, wealth and well-being – in the short, medium and long term.

Ahtonen argues that the EU can and should play a stronger role in promoting more sustainable and efficient health systems in Europe for the benefit of all – and that the European Semester gives the EU greater scope to act in this regard. The European Commission should build on this possibility in its country-specific recommendations this spring: rather than just focus on cost-savings in the healthcare sector, it should encourage a reform of European healthcare systems and a more outcome-oriented approach to public investments. It must push for cost-effective measures that can improve people’s health outcomes and ensure the sustainability of the sector today and tomorrow.