European health systems are changing in response to the financial crisis but face barriers to implementing necessary reforms

The financial crisis has affected almost every aspect of European governments’ ability to maintain public services, and healthcare has been no exception. Philipa Mladovsky and Sarah Thomson look at how health systems have responded to the financial crisis and find that there is substantial variation across Europe. Some countries were better prepared than others to cope with a fiscal shock, and countries using the crisis to address weaknesses in the health system have often found it difficult to introduce necessary reforms.