Cost containment and reforms in the Italian National Health Service

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Abstract
This chapter focuses on the Italian health care system in the early 1990s and discusses the two main issues which have dominated policy action: the reform of the National Health Service and the reduction of public health care expenditure. It discusses the main cost containment measures adopted and examines the content of the health care reform approved in 1992 and provides a critical interpretation of this reform. The principles of solidarity, statism and social participation largely inspired the health care reform. From an organizational point of view, the reform allocated political and administrative responsibilities on health matters to the three main levels of public authority: the State, the regions and the communes. Under the reform, the national government maintains a central role in financing the system and in defining criteria to guarantee uniform availability of health services across the country. The 1992 reform introduced a new body in the health authorities: the Council of Health Professionals.

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