"Sweden is a parliamentary democracy that is governed at the national, regional, local and European level. General elections at the national (parliamentary), regional and local levels are held every four years. In the elections, political parties are elected to represent the citizens in the three political assemblies, that is, the municipal, county council or regional assembly and the national parliament (Riksdag). All Swedish citizens aged 18 years or older are entitled to vote in the parliamentary and EU elections. To be entitled to vote in the municipal and county council/regional elections, individuals are required to be at least 18 years…
Sweden By The Numbers
Health System Ranking:WHO World Health Report 2000 Overall Health System Performance (1997): 231Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Health Index (2017): 32Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index (2016): 83Gross Domestic Product (Current Prices) (billion USD) (2018): $551.14Population (2018): 10.1 Million4GDP Per Capita At Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) (USD) (2018): $51,4005Total Current Expenditure On Health (Current Prices, Current PPP) (million USD) (2018): $55,126.15Total Current Expenditure On Health As Portion of GDP (2018): 11%5Total Current Expenditure On Health Per Capita (Current Prices, Current PPP) (USD) (2018): $5,447.15Life Expectancy At Birth (2016): All Genders: 82.4; Male: 80.4; Female: 84.14Life Expectancy At Birth - OECD Average (2016): All…
Sweden’s Health System: Public Perception and Support
"Attitudes toward health care services have been collected annually since 2001 through a national population survey (Vårdbarometern). Comparisons of results across county councils and over time are presented at the Health Care Barometer web site. Since sample sizes are small and only cover 1000 individuals in each county council, data from the population survey only allow for comparison at an aggregate level. Results from the 2010 survey showed that 65% of responders had a high confidence in health care services within their county council. Differences across county councils were significant, however. On average, 82% of responders (75–88% depending on county…
Sweden’s Health System: Planned Reforms and Changes
"Future developments within the Swedish health care sector can be expected to include the implementation of reforms already initiated. Overall, several initiatives initiated recently and under discussion are guided by the emerging performance paradigm in the governance and management of health care. Key words related to the current trend are national quality registers, transparent comparison, value for money, health outcomes from the patient perspective, process orientation and coordinated services. More attention is being focused on the need to establish valid performance indicators and increase abilities to monitor performance on a regular basis by investments in registers and new IT solutions.…
Sweden’s Health System: Patient Rights
“There is no specific law regulating patients’ rights in Sweden, as opposed to in other Nordic countries. Instead, different rights for patients, such as patient choice or the right to information, are incorporated in other legislation and are formulated in policy agreements between the state and the county councils through the SALAR. Regulations are mainly targeted at the behaviour of personnel and only indirectly at patients’ rights. For instance, personnel are obliged to provide individually tailored information but patients have no articulated right to receive such information (Winblad & Ringard 2009). In March 2001, however, the government appointed a committee…
Sweden’s Health System: Health Outcome Measures
"Life expectancy at birth in Sweden increased by two and a half years from 2000–15, to 82.2 years (Figure 1). Swedish life expectancy is 1.6 years longer than the EU average and is the fifth highest across the EU."The gap in life expectancy between men and women is 3.7 years (80.4 years for men and 84.1 years for women), which is among the smallest in the EU. However, there is a sizeable gap in life expectancy between socioeconomic groups, particularly among men. Life expectancy at birth among Swedish men with university education is almost five years higher than among those…
Sweden’s Health System: Financing
"The Swedish health care system is primarily funded through taxes (Fig. 3.5). Both the county councils and the municipalities levy proportional income taxes on their respective populations. The financing of health care services by local taxes is supplemented by the central government and by user charges. Subsidies for dental care are paid for by national social insurance, and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency generates revenues primarily through employer payroll fees (Fig. 3.6). Subsidies for prescription drugs are paid for through designated state grants to the county councils and then treated as a restriction on the county councils’ fee revenues (section…
Sweden’s Health System: Expenditures
"Sweden has the third highest spending on health as a share of GDP in the EU, 11.0% compared to 9.9% in the EU in 2015. In terms of spending per capita, Sweden spent EUR 3 932 per capita on health in 2015 (adjusted for differences in purchasing power), which is the fifth highest in the EU (Figure 6)."Public expenditure accounts for 84% of the total, a share which has been fairly stable over the past decade and is above the EU average (79%). Most private expenditure (93%) is paid out-of-pocket directly by households and voluntary health insurance still only plays…
Sweden’s Health System: An Overview
"Health care and other welfare services are considered a public responsibility in Sweden. The Swedish health care system is organized into three levels: the national, regional and local (Fig. 2.1). According to the Swedish Health and Medical Services Act of 1982: “Health and medical services are aimed at assuring the entire population of good health and of care on equal terms. Care shall be provided with due respect for the equal worth of all people and the dignity of the individual. Priority shall be given to those who are in the greatest need of health and medical care”. The responsibility…
Overview of the German Health System
"In the German health care system, decision-making powers are traditionally shared between national (federal) and state (Land) levels, with much power delegated to self-governing bodies. It provides universal coverage for a wide range of benefits. Since 2009, health insurance has been mandatory for all citizens and permanent residents, through either statutory or private health insurance. A total of 70 million people or 85% of the population are covered by statutory health insurance in one of 132 sickness funds in early 2014. Another 11% are covered by substitutive private health insurance. Characteristics of the system are free choice of providers and…