Germany: Where have we been?

Abstract

Germany's health system organization is based on three major principles: compulsory insurance, compulsory contributions from both employers and employees and solidarity. A vast majority of German citizens follow the idea that health risks should be shared collectively by the community of all insured persons [9]. Irrespective of the amount each person had paid into the social system, all have access to comprehensive coverage. In order to understand Germany's peculiarities in health policy, this chapter provides an introduction into Germany's model of health care and then discusses which kinds of resource allocation strategies already have evolved. The second chapter deals with prospects for Germany's health care system in the near future and future. Both chapters do not discuss future developments in the area of medical technology.