Healthcare in Sweden
Encyclopedia
The Swedish
health care
system is mainly government-funded
and decentralized, although private health care also exists. The health care system in Sweden is financed primarily through taxes levied by county councils and municipalities.
Sweden regularly comes close to the top of worldwide healthcare rankings. (currently 17th)
At the regional level, responsibility for financing and providing health care is decentralized to the county councils
. A county council is a political body whose representatives are elected by the public every four years on the same day as the national general election. The executive board or hospital board of a county council exercises authority over hospital structure and management, and ensures efficient health care delivery. County councils also regulate prices and level of service offered by private providers. Private providers are required to enter into a contract with the county councils. Patients are not reimbursed for services from private providers who do not have an agreement with the county councils. According to the Swedish health and medical care policy, every county council must provide residents with good-quality health services and medical care and work toward promoting good health in the entire population.
At the local level, municipalities are responsible for maintaining the immediate environment of citizens such as water supply and social welfare services. Recently, post discharge care for the disabled and elderly, and long term care for psychiatric patients was decentralized to the local municipalities.
Sweden is divided into 21 county councils. Around 90 percent of the Swedish county councils’ work involves health care but they are also involved in other areas, such as culture and infrastructure. The population in these 21 areas ranges from 60,000 to 1,900,000. The county councils have considerable leeway in deciding how care should be planned and delivered. This explains the wide regional variations.
It is informally divided into 7 sections: "Close-to-home care" (primary care
clinics, maternity care clinics, out-patient psychiatric clinics, etc.), emergency care, elective care, in-patient care, out-patient care, specialist care, and dental care
.
When a physician declares a patient to be ill for whatever reason (by signing a certificate of illness/unfitness), the patient is paid a percentage of their normal daily wage from the second day. For the first 14 days, the employer is required to pay this wage, and after that the state pays the wage until the patient is declared fit.
The state also reimburses patients for travel costs to and from the clinic or hospital.
within 3 days of contacting the clinic. If referred to a dietician by the GP, they should get an appointment within 14 days, and if treatment is deemed necessary by the specialist, it should be given within 10 days.
There is also a limit on health care fees per year. You pay 150 SEK (= 21 USD) each time you visit a doctor, no matter if he is a private doctor or work at a local health care center or at a large hospital. When you visit a hospital the entrance fee (21 USD) covers all specialist visits the doctor sends you to, like x-ray, rheumatism specialist, heart surgery operation, etc.. The same sum is taken out if you are brought in by an ambulance in an acute situation, but then the bill is received only after you have been treated and have returned home. But after you have paid 800 SEK (= 111 USD) you do not have to pay anything for health care for the rest of the year.
So, to pay for doctor fees and prescribed medicines you never have to pay more than 800 plus 1800 SEK (360 USD) per year.
Plastic surgery is covered by the same rules, if the doctors decide that it is necessary. Unnecessary plastic surgery is paid for in full by the patient.
Dental care is not included in the general health care system, but it is partly subsidized by the government. A lot of Swedes want dental care to be fully included in the general health care system, and a growing group of politicians support that.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
system is mainly government-funded
Publicly-funded health care
Publicly funded health care is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most health care needs from a publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability, the right of access to which are set down in rules applying to the whole population...
and decentralized, although private health care also exists. The health care system in Sweden is financed primarily through taxes levied by county councils and municipalities.
Sweden regularly comes close to the top of worldwide healthcare rankings. (currently 17th)
Management
Sweden's health care system is organized and managed on three levels: national, regional and local. At the national level, the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs establishes principles and guidelines for care and sets the political agenda for health and medical care. The ministry along with other government bodies supervises activities at the lower levels, allocates grants and periodically evaluates services to ensure correspondence to national goals.At the regional level, responsibility for financing and providing health care is decentralized to the county councils
County Councils of Sweden
A county council, or landsting, is an elected assembly of a county in Sweden. A county council is a political entity, elected by the county electorate and typically its main responsibilities lie within the public health care system. In each county there is also a county administrative board which...
. A county council is a political body whose representatives are elected by the public every four years on the same day as the national general election. The executive board or hospital board of a county council exercises authority over hospital structure and management, and ensures efficient health care delivery. County councils also regulate prices and level of service offered by private providers. Private providers are required to enter into a contract with the county councils. Patients are not reimbursed for services from private providers who do not have an agreement with the county councils. According to the Swedish health and medical care policy, every county council must provide residents with good-quality health services and medical care and work toward promoting good health in the entire population.
At the local level, municipalities are responsible for maintaining the immediate environment of citizens such as water supply and social welfare services. Recently, post discharge care for the disabled and elderly, and long term care for psychiatric patients was decentralized to the local municipalities.
Sweden is divided into 21 county councils. Around 90 percent of the Swedish county councils’ work involves health care but they are also involved in other areas, such as culture and infrastructure. The population in these 21 areas ranges from 60,000 to 1,900,000. The county councils have considerable leeway in deciding how care should be planned and delivered. This explains the wide regional variations.
It is informally divided into 7 sections: "Close-to-home care" (primary care
Primary care
Primary care is the term for the health services by providers who act as the principal point of consultation for patients within a health care system...
clinics, maternity care clinics, out-patient psychiatric clinics, etc.), emergency care, elective care, in-patient care, out-patient care, specialist care, and dental care
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
.
Financing
Costs for health and medical care amount to approximately 9 percent of Sweden’s gross domestic product (GDP), a figure that has remained fairly stable since the early 1980s. Seventy-one percent of health care is funded through local taxation, and county councils have the right to collect income tax. The state finances the bulk of health care costs, with the patient paying a small nominal fee for examination. The state pays for approximately 97% of medical costs.When a physician declares a patient to be ill for whatever reason (by signing a certificate of illness/unfitness), the patient is paid a percentage of their normal daily wage from the second day. For the first 14 days, the employer is required to pay this wage, and after that the state pays the wage until the patient is declared fit.
The state also reimburses patients for travel costs to and from the clinic or hospital.
Waiting times
Urgent cases are always prioritized and emergency cases are treated immediately. The national guarantee of care states that a patient should be able to get an appointment with a primary care physicianPrimary care physician
A primary care physician, or PCP, is a physician/medical doctor who provides both the first contact for a person with an undiagnosed health concern as well as continuing care of varied medical conditions, not limited by cause, organ system, or diagnosis....
within 3 days of contacting the clinic. If referred to a dietician by the GP, they should get an appointment within 14 days, and if treatment is deemed necessary by the specialist, it should be given within 10 days.
Details and patient costs
Prescription medicine costs per year are limited for the patient. When you have paid 1,800 SEK (= 249 USD) to the pharmacy the medicines are paid by the government for the rest of the year. All pharmacies are network connected so you can get your medicines from any pharmacy in the country and the same rules apply as if you only use a single local pharmacy. The prescription is sent through internet to the pharmacy network, so you only have to show your identity card in a pharmacy and the pharmacy computer shows what medicines you should have, when you got each medicine earlier, and what medicines you are allowed to receive at this visit. A year after your prescription was sent to the pharmacy system you call the doctor secretary and ask for the prescription to be renewed for the coming year and you can ask for changes to the prescription. If the doctor or you think you need to visit the doctor or take new tests such a visit is arranged.There is also a limit on health care fees per year. You pay 150 SEK (= 21 USD) each time you visit a doctor, no matter if he is a private doctor or work at a local health care center or at a large hospital. When you visit a hospital the entrance fee (21 USD) covers all specialist visits the doctor sends you to, like x-ray, rheumatism specialist, heart surgery operation, etc.. The same sum is taken out if you are brought in by an ambulance in an acute situation, but then the bill is received only after you have been treated and have returned home. But after you have paid 800 SEK (= 111 USD) you do not have to pay anything for health care for the rest of the year.
So, to pay for doctor fees and prescribed medicines you never have to pay more than 800 plus 1800 SEK (360 USD) per year.
Plastic surgery is covered by the same rules, if the doctors decide that it is necessary. Unnecessary plastic surgery is paid for in full by the patient.
Dental care is not included in the general health care system, but it is partly subsidized by the government. A lot of Swedes want dental care to be fully included in the general health care system, and a growing group of politicians support that.
See also
- Health care compared - tabular comparisons with the US, Canada, and other countries not shown above.
External links
- Vårdguiden (The Care Guide) - EU-regulated health care website by the Stockholm health care system.