The Czech Health Care System*

Abstract

Over the last decades, the Czech health care system has undergone significant reforms. Regardless of its good performances in terms of health care spending and improved population's health, the sustainability and functionality of the Czech system still faces important challenges. It is particularly vulnerable to economic shocks and an ageing society; it suffers from inefficiencies in hospital management and experiences profound changes in the health workforce. To tackle these problems, policy makers have been working to reform the system, but these challenges have not yet been overcome. The present chapter provides an overview of selected reforms and their outcomes. First, we describe the main features of the health care system in the Czech Republic. Then, we discuss its main sustainability problems and the policy interventions that have been implemented to tackle these problems with a particular focus on evidence provided by the health economics literature on the actual effects of the reforms.

Citation

Bertoli, P., Bryndová, L. and Votápková, J. (2021), "The Czech Health Care System* ", Baltagi, B.H. and Moscone, F. (Ed.) The Sustainability of Health Care Systems in Europe (Contributions to Economic Analysis, Vol. 295), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 139-152. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0573-855520210000295013