Intergenerational Solidarity of the Public Health Care Systems in Europe

Katerina Pavlokova ()
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Katerina Pavlokova: Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic

ACTA VSFS, 2010, vol. 4, issue 1, 12-46

Abstract: Ageing of the population has become one of the important topics in developed countries in recent times. Health care and pension systems based on solidarity are especially vulnerable to demographic changes associated with falling fertility rates and increasing life expectancy. The main task of the paper is to answer and quantify the question who bears the costs and who benefits from the public health care systems and reveal possible future imbalances. We introduce a long-term projection technique enhanced by some elements of generational accounting approach with intent to express the ageing problem in the health care sector. We explore both the revenue side of the public health care systems as well as the health care expenditures from the perspective of separate generations. Following countries have been selected as the representatives of the European health care systems: the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The model points to un-sustainability of the current public health care systems if the effective tax rates did not increase. If the demand for health care had to be satisfied, the health care systems financed through social contributions and income-based taxes would be faced with increasing burden on working population.

Keywords: health care financing; sustainability; generational accounts; population ageing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E62 H51 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:prf:journl:v:4:y:2010:i:1:p:12-46

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