Health Insurance and EU Law

Abstract

The provisions of EU law that are relevant to health insurance are either competition law and state aid, or public procurement. Which regime is applied depends mainly on the definition of the undertaking. At the same time, the internal market rules are also relevant, notably the non-life insurance directives which limit the ability of Member States to intervene in insurance conditions, but with an exception for schemes that substitute for social security. This reflects the balancing act between compulsory coverage and privatisation of risk that characterises the increasing importance of health insurance as part of the policy mix which Member States apply to problems of funding and guaranteeing the provision of healthcare.