HEALTH SYSTEMS FINANCING IN THE EU MEMBER STATES.

The purpose of the paper is to analyze the impact of the health systems financing in the EU Member States, identifying the structural and institutional changes necessary to eliminate the negative trends and to increase the efficiency of the healthcare sector. The good health is considered by the European Parliament as the key to economic growth and sustainable development in the EU. The methodology of the study includes a theoretical and methodological analysis, a descriptive approach, a method of analysis and synthesis, a method of induction and deduction, comparative analysis, critical analysis, etc. In structural terms, the study includes the following sections: introduction; a research on the EU health policy development; a study on the health systems financing in the EU Member States during the period 2006-2015; conclusion; references. The Maastricht Treaty in 1992 adopted a separate section on a common health policy in the EU Member States and introduced an EU-wide legal regulation. This created the opportunity for developing a European strategy for the healthcare sector in which the principle of subsidiarity applies. Through this strategy, the EU plays an important role in improving public health. However, competition between the EU Member States often complicates the implementation of the single health policy. Searching for and finding the most effective financing solutions for this sector is of paramount importance. Three stages in the EU health policy's development are distinguished in the paper: the first stage, running from the mid-1950s to 1975; the second stage - from the early 1970s to 2002; the third stage - covering the period from 2003 to the present day. Over the period 1993-2002 eight European programmes in the field of public health were implemented. The current EU "Health for Growth" Programme covers the period 2014-2020. This is the third phase of the previous two European Health Programmes. Financial resources in the healthcare are a necessary condition for mobilizing all elements of the system, which aims to achieve a public health effect. The healthcare sector is not about making profits, but the issues surrounding its funding are very important. The reason is that this sector produces added value - part of the country's GDP, it consumes a significant share of public consumption funds, it attracts significant investment, and it provides accumulation of public wealth. In addition, the healthcare sector is a generator of the growth of such high-tech areas, such as the pharmaceutical industry and the production of a variety of medical technologies. Also, a large part of the country's labor resources are involved in health system. In the paper an analysis of the main aspects of health financing is made: fundraising; distribution of the funds raised; and spending of the funds in the health institutions. The study describes the key ways of health financing according to the dominant source and the form of payment, the ownership of the financial resources and some other factors. Important attention in the paper is drawn on the two types of funding, depending on the source of funds: 1) Indirect budget financing; 2) Direct financing. The empirical analysis covers the period 2006-2015 on a yearly basis. Healthcare expenditure by funding schemes in the EU Member States is analyzed based on Eurostat data. Based on the study of cost-sharing systems in the EU Member States, some common trends in the EU as a whole are identified. Paper concludes with summarizing the results from the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]