The Distributional Impact of Health Financing in Europe: A Review

This article summarises, extends and updates previous empirical work on the distributional implications of alternative health care financing arrangements in a selection of European countries and the US. On the one hand, total health care payments are almost proportional to ability to pay in most countries. This is predominantly driven by a high reliance on public financing. On the other hand, private payments – out‐of‐pocket payments as well as private insurance premiums – are highly regressive. More extended reliance on private financing may therefore endanger the equitable nature of financing systems. In addition, private payments put a heavy burden on unfortunate households.