Can people afford their healthcare?

Abstract

The quality and accessibility of healthcare are primarily important because they (hopefully) contribute to better health, undoubtedly one of the most important dimensions of well-being. The organisation of healthcare and health insurance also affects well-being in other ways. When people are ill, they have to spend part of their income on healthcare expenditure which reduces their possibilities for consumption. The accessibility of good care for all also contributes to a sense of solidarity and harmony in society: people who do not receive the care they think they need often feel that they are being treated unfairly by the system. The importance of each individual’s dignity is a particularly sensitive issue when it comes to suffering, pain and death.