Is the Equity of Access to Healthcare a European Constitutional Standard? A Comparative Review

Abstract:

A welfare state crisis resulting from austerity policies creates risks to healthcare systems throughout Europe. It escalates the pressure to reduce State responsibilities and weakens the guarantees of accessibility and quality of health services. One of the most effective barriers to this tendency might be a strong constitutional standard of the right to health.

This article reviews the constitutional acts of 28 European Union Member States in order to explore the scope of protection of the right to health, with a special focus on the various aspects of equity of access to healthcare.

It also shows the absence of a universal European standard of the constitutional regulation of this matter, and describe major differences relating to formulation, level of protection guaranteed, and the material scope of regulation. In conclusion, a hypothesis is proposed on the potential role of constitutional guarantees in preventing the deterioration of accessibility of health services.