E-raamat: Financing High Medical Risks: Discussions, Developments, Problems and Solutions on the Coverage of the Risk of Long-term Care in Norway, Germany and the Netherlands since 1945 in European Perspective

Across the member states of the European Union, common problems and challenges have arisen related to the accessibility, quality, and financial sustainability of long-term healthcare services, which represent a new social and medical risk. This book compares national policies in Norway, Germany, and the Netherlands and these countries’ approaches to issues such as old-age insurance, home-help programs, and mental healthcare. The contributions look at different paths of policy development, identify problems faced by public and private parties, and ultimately discuss possible solutions.

Since 1980-1985, the postwar welfare states of Europe have been developing new scenarios for covering the risks of life with stable family structures. The sustainability of services and the financing of care in convalescent homes and residential homes for the elderly, home-help schemes, care for the physically handicapped and mental healthcare is one of the great social and medical problems of the modern welfare states. These forms of care are considered as new social risks. These risks are individually unaffordable because of the long terms of care and the costs involved. Therefore they are also high medical risks.

All member states of the European Union are faced with the same problems and challenges relating to the accessibility, quality and sustainability of long term care. The authors of this book aim to address the cover for high medical risks in the Dutch, German and Norwegian welfare states from the European perspective. The first objective is to explain the different paths of development. The second objective is to understand the problems that the public and private parties have faced, and still face. The third objective is to discuss possible solutions from the public or private domain.