The Financial Crisis and the Crisis Within European Health Insurance Systems

Beginning in early 2008, the economic and financial crisis which had initially emerged in developed countries has reached global dimensions. The previous recessions have shown that health insurance systems are rapidly influenced by the overall economic causing difficulties related to funding with effects on human and financial resources, changes in living conditions, lifestyles and behavior. All these pressures have often led to decisions that targeted budget cuts, increases or introductions of new taxes, co-payments or other forms of private funding. As the crisis evolved, new issues and thus new options emerged. Some focused on programs aimed at stimulating consumption and hence economic recovery, while others seeked to minimize social damage by protecting those considered being disadvantaged.