Gerechtigkeit und Verteilungswirkungen der Gesundheitsreform 2007

Discussions of health care reforms are always tightly connected with the question of ensuring equity in financing health care. This paper analyses the German health care reform 2007 and its effect on the equity of health care financing. To do this Rawls’ and Nozick’s perceptions of justice will be applied to develop benchmarks to classify new financing options introduced with the reform. These benchmarks are indicated through a differentiation between the two principles „fair compensation for performance“ and „equitable support based on need“ and the extent of income redistribution of the new financing modes. Overall, it can be concluded that the health care reforms have not reduced equity in health care financing neither if Rawls’ perception of justice is applied nor if the conception of justice held by Nozick is applied.