Healthcare in Europe

58 countries with universal health care in 2009.^[1]
Most European countries have universal health coverage.

  58 countries with legislation mandating UHC, and
>90% health insurance coverage, and
>90% skilled birth attendance.

European Health Insurance Card (French version pictured)

Healthcare in Europe is provided through a wide range of different systems run at the national level. The systems are primarily publicly funded through taxation (universal health care). Private funding may represent personal contributions towards meeting the non-taxpayer refunded portion of costs or may reflect totally private (non-subsidized) healthcare either paid out of pocket or met by some form of personal or employer funded insurance. Many European countries (and all European Union countries) offer their citizens a European Health Insurance Card which, on a reciprocal basis, provides insurance for emergency medical treatment insurance when visiting other participating European countries.

European Union

The European Union has no major administrative responsibility in the field of healthcare. The European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Consumers however seeks to align national laws on the safety of food and other products, on consumers' rights and on the protection of people's health, to form new EU wide laws and thus strengthen its internal markets.

Healthcare rankings

Euro Health Consumer Index 2017^[2]

Country	Ranking	Total Score	Patient rights & Information	Accessibility (waiting times)	Outcomes	Range and reach of services provided	Prevention	Pharmaceuticals
Netherlands	1	924	125	200	278	125	107	89
Switzerland	2	898	117	225	278	94	101	83
Denmark	3	864	117	118	267	120	95	119
Norway	4	850	125	125	289	115	119	78
Luxembourg	5	850	104	213	244	109	107	72
Finland	6	856	108	150	289	120	101	78
Germany	7	836	108	188	267	83	101	89
Belgium	8	832	108	213	233	115	95	72
Iceland	9	830	117	175	256	115	113	56
France	10	825	104	188	256	99	95	83
Austria	11	816	113	188	233	104	101	78
Sweden	12	807	113	113	278	125	101	78
Slovakia	13	749	113	225	189	73	83	67
Portugal	14	747	108	137	233	89	107	72
United Kingdom	15	735	113	100	222	109	113	78
Slovenia	16	726	108	163	211	89	83	72
Czechia	17	726	79	188	222	104	77	56
Spain	18	695	88	113	222	94	107	72
Estonia	19	691	113	163	189	89	77	61
Serbia	20	673	104	200	167	57	89	56
Italy	21	673	88	150	211	73	101	50
Macedonia	22	649	108	200	133	63	89	56
Malta	23	642	88	150	167	104	95	39
Ireland	24	630	75	88	211	78	95	83
Montenegro	25	623	88	200	156	52	77	50
Croatia	26	620	96	138	178	94	65	50
Albania	27	596	88	213	156	42	65	33
Latvia	28	587	104	138	156	68	77	44
Poland	29	584	79	125	167	63	95	56
Hungary	30	584	79	138	156	78	89	44
Lithuania	31	574	104	138	144	78	65	44
Greece	32	569	58	125	200	52	83	50
Bulgaria	33	548	67	175	156	47	65	39
Romania	34	439	71	113	122	52	48	33
Cyprus	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x

Euro Health Consumer Index 2016^[3]

Country	Overall ranking	Total score	Patient rights and information score	Accessibility (waiting times for treatment) score	Outcomes score	Range and reach of services score	Prevention score	Pharmaceuticals score
Netherlands	1	927	122	200	288	125	107	86
Switzerland	2	904	111	225	288	94	101	86
Norway	3	865	125	138	288	115	119	81
Belgium	4	860	104	225	250	109	95	76
Iceland	5	854	115	163	288	115	113	62
Luxemburg	6	851	101	200	263	104	107	76
Germany	7	849	104	188	288	83	101	86
Finland	8	842	108	150	288	115	101	81
Denmark	9	827	111	150	275	115	95	81
Austria	10	826	108	200	238	99	101	81
France	11	815	90	188	263	94	95	86
Sweden	12	786	104	100	275	125	101	81
Czech Republic	13	780	87	213	238	104	77	62
Portugal	14	763	108	150	250	78	101	76
United Kingdom	15	761	108	100	250	109	113	81
Slovenia	16	740	104	125	263	89	83	76
Estonia	17	729	108	163	238	94	65	62
Spain	18	709	87	113	238	94	107	71
Croatia	19	703	108	175	188	104	71	57
Macedonia	20	699	118	225	138	68	89	62
Ireland	21	689	80	100	250	78	95	86
Italy	22	682	83	138	225	78	101	57
Slovakia	23	678	97	163	175	89	83	71
Serbia	24	670	111	188	163	57	89	62
Malta	25	666	80	163	188	94	95	48
Cyprus	26	623	73	125	213	68	83	62
Lithuania	27	620	97	175	163	68	65	52
Greece	28	593	63	125	213	52	83	57
Latvia	29	589	87	113	188	73	77	52
Hungary	30	575	73	125	163	73	89	52
Poland	31	564	66	100	188	63	95	52
Albania	32	551	73	163	175	42	65	33
Bulgaria	33	526	66	150	150	47	65	48
Montenegro	34	518	63	113	175	57	77	33
Romania	35	497	80	150	125	52	48	43

See also

• Economy of Europe
• European Institute of Women's Health
• European Practice Assessment
• List of countries with universal health care

References

^[4]