Better public health systems lessen people’s need to save for emergencies

ince the outbreak of Covid-19, governments and international institutions have been acting to make national health systems more resilient to pandemics, but in reality the scope of such policies appears wider. For example, two recent initiatives in Europe, the ESM pandemic crisis support and the EU4Health program, are designed not only to respond to pandemic threats, but also to improve the accessibility and efficiency of health systems more generally. Similar developments are also taking place on the other side of the Atlantic: at the end of September the Trump administration presented the America-First Healthcare Plan with the declared goal of improving health services for all patients. Biden himself puts health care among his priorities, with the aim, among others, of reducing the costs of health service for the citizens.