Ethics in the Life Sciences– Expert reports by the DRZE; Volume 6
Kurt Fleischhauer

Published by the DRZE – German Reference Centre for Ethics in the Life Sciences, Research Department

During the last century, public health care systems have become an integral part of most industrial nations. However, presently these systems are facing a profound crisis in many countries: The development of new, cost-intensive methods of diagnosis and therapy as well as demographic changes and increased expectations of citizens on what medicine is able to achieve have caused serious financial shortages in the health care systems.

This report paradigmatically summarises key regulations in three different systems: in the corporatistic German system, in the British state-run system and in the decentralized system in the USA. It becomes evident that none of these systems is able to overcome the current difficulties. At the same time, it is apparent that simply asking for “more market” or “more state” influence on health care provision would be inadequate. The present volume is intended to facilitate an informed discussion of this complex matter.

ERRATUM.

The first two sentences in the second paragraph on page sixteen should read as follows:
Im Jahre 2004 betrugen die Gesundheitsausgaben in Deutschland € 233,9 Milliarden. Dies entsprach 10,6% des Bruttoinlandsprodukts. Die Ausgaben für die gesetzliche Krankenversicherung beliefen sich auf 6,3% des Bruttoinlandprodukts.

ISBN: 978-3-495-48248-3

Publisher: Verlag Karl Alber, Freiburg

Year of publication: 2007

Price: € 16,- (paperback)

Pages: 133, German (21,4 x 13,9 cm)