Perceptions of health care access in Europe: How universal is universal coverage?

The past decade has witnessed a growing interest in the ability of health systems to protect citizens from the financial consequences associated with ill health and the use of medical care. In order to improve financial protection and access to care the WHO World Health Report 2010 firmly emphasizes that health systems move towards universal coverage of their populations. Of all regions, Europe has shown the most commitment to the goal of universal coverage. However, not all Europeans may feel as though they are able to access care if in fact they should need it. It is therefore important to investigate how the citizens of different European countries perceive their access to health care in order to better understand who these individuals are and what role different systems can play in providing better access to care.