Healthcare in Europe 2018. The finance and reimbursement systems of 11 European countries
Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Every European country has its own healthcare system with its own specific features. This publication is a survey of healthcare finance and reimbursement systems in 11 European countries.

In 1997 and in 2007 a comparative study between respectively 18 and 11 West European countries on their finance and reimbursement systems showed a large diversity, with each country struggling with their cost control. Nowadays, 20 years later, it would be interesting to see what developments and possibly convergences have taken place, also with regards to the European Union (EU). To this end 11 of the countries have been re-examined.

This book is to encourage innovations in Europe and to make it easier for innovators to get their products on the healthcare market. To encourage innovations in different countries an understanding of the healthcare system structure and reimbursement systems is essential. It is hard to deploy and disseminate innovations because of the complexity of this continent and the complexity of the healthcare system. The Europe Union has a lot harmonized but the reimbursement of healthcare is still a national issue. The European Union has 28 countries which means 28 systems. The European continent has more than 50 countries and that means at least 50 systems entrepreneurs have to deal with. Systems described in 50 local languages.

Could you image what that means for a start-up in Italy to get to know the system in Sweden? That’s why we present you this book. We cannot remove the national borders but we can lift a lot of barriers to do business. This report present you the systems of 11 European countries.
- In one book.
- In one language.
- In a uniform way.


Yvonne van Kemenade & Erwin Heeneman