Searching for Good Health From North and South Europe

Recent years have seen an improvement in the health of European citizens. This can be attributed both to living conditions and to the transformation of health systems, and it is the reason why scientific interest for sociology of health. In Europe, social policy studies (Esping-Andersen, 1990; Ferrera, 1998) have shown the existence of welfare regime models that group together various different European countries presenting recurring, but not necessarily specific characteristics. The paper examines whether health policy models can be identified that unite different European countries (North and South Europe) on the basis of certain characteristics (universalism of services; health system funding methods; service production; health system reforms), which then can be explored and compared. At a theoretical level, we will use a macro structural comparison in order to analyze the two models. This will not only show any similar elements at an empirical level, but also whether this differentiation has a reason for being. Our study will therefore examine two important case studies (one country in North Europe and the other in South Europe). This comparison should facilitate a focus on the unique features of the systems, at the same time as bringing forth suggestions for proposed improvements to such. Therefore, after having described the specific features and characteristics of the two models considered, we will attempt to understand the reasons and implications underlying them.