Reforms in public health assistance

Rationalization of the service or change of model?

Abstract

Public health assistance in Spain has been recently reformed. Among others fields, with respect to the right to public assistance under the National Health System (SNS) and to the corresponding services. Universality and free of charge access to the services, as principles of the SNS, have been shaded with new determinations as the inclusion in Social Insurance and the obliged payment of supplementary services. Besides some Regions have decided that public hospitals and health services will be managed by private entities. The reform intends to reduce public expenses, but it could mean as well a change in our model of health assistance as a public service. With that landscape we also analyze the rules of the European Union law on general interest services and health assistance.