The objectives guiding health care reforms in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands were to increase efficiency and consumer satisfaction in the provision of health care services. This paper sums up incentives and instruments of competition for consumers, sickness funds and health care...

Rising costs in pharmaceutical expenditure have become a major concern for policy makers in Germany over the last years. Therefore the pharmaceutical market in Germany has been increasingly targeted by different kinds of regulations, focussing both on the supply and the demand side, using price,...

Rising costs in pharmaceutical expenditure have become a major concern for policy makers in Germany over the last years. Therefore the pharmaceutical market in Germany has been increasingly targeted by different kinds of regulations, focussing both on the supply and the demand side, using price,...

This paper discusses the influence of recent health care reform acts in Germany on choice, guidance and access from the perspective of patients, insured, insurers, and health care providers. Particular emphasis is put on health policy reforms since 2004, i.e. the Social Health Insurance...

Many countries with national health care providers and health insurances regulate the market for pharmaceuticals to steer drug demand and to control expenses. For example, they introduce reference pricing or tiered co-payments to enhance drug substitution and competition. Since 2006, Germany...