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After a series of ECJ rulings, Directive 2011/24/EU was finally adopted to regulate access and reimbursement of planned health care in another member state. Several studies have analysed the Directive's implementation and impact on national health care systems around the time of the transposition. The case of Austria is particularly interesting. Along with Portugal, Poland, and Romania, Austria voted against the Directive, even though major elements were already in line with national legislation. This paper investigates the implementation of the patients' rights Directive in Austria through the lens of public key stakeholders. The analysis goes beyond the legal implementation and traces the policy process from the Directive's adoption at EU level to the time after its national transposition. Based on a rigorous policy document analysis, the study discusses the reasons of Austria's initial denial of the Directive and addresses the perceived tensions in its application, both from a patient and health systems' perspective. Results include the stakeholders' critical opinion towards the Directive's ability to provide legal clarity and show that its practical application remains restrictive even years after transposition. By providing evidence from Austria and discussing the findings in the context of other country examples, this paper offers new insights into the role of EU health policy-making and the practical controversies concerning its implementation on national level.

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PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is twofold: First, it analyzes demand and supply-side factors that influence patient flows to and from Austria. Second, building on the empirical research and existing conceptualizations, the study offers a general extended framework to guide future comparative analysis. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The paper draws on multiple data sources including a literature review, secondary data, website analysis and semi-structured interviews with patients and health providers. Content analysis was carried out to identify common motives for seeking care abroad and providers' orientation towards medical travel. FINDINGS: Outbound medical travel is largely determined by factors of access, affordability and vicinity, while inbound medical travel is predominately driven by a lack of adequate medical infrastructure in source countries and quality, both in terms of medical and service quality. Providers distinguish themselves according to the extent they take part in medical travel. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The findings emerging from a single country case study approach cannot be generalized across settings and contexts, albeit contributing to a better understanding of current medical travel patterns in Europe. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Unlike most recent contributions, this study focuses both on inbound and outbound medical travel in Austria and investigates patient flows for distinctive treatments and drivers. While analysis of the supply-side of medical travel is often limited to tourism studies, this study provides a critical insight into developments in Europe from a health policy perspective, acknowledging that diverse medical travel patterns in Europe coexist.

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China's population is aging rapidly, while the traditional long-term care (LTC) system that heavily relies on families is eroding. In response, China has embarked on a journey of policy experimentation for long-term care insurance (LTCI) since 2016, launching LTCI pilots in 15 pioneer cities. These pilots have a great diversity in participation, eligibility, and provision. This paper estimates the prevalence of LTC needs and analyzes the impact of the LTCI pilots on access. Although substantial progress has been achieved, the overall coverage of LTCI is still relatively small, and a large proportion of vulnerable people needing LTC seem to be left behind because of the strict eligibility criteria. This analysis suggests that future policy experimentation on LTCI reform in China needs to address the following pressing policy issues: expanding the coverage of LTCI; narrowing rural-urban disparities in access; improving access for vulnerable subpopulations; and reducing the heavy reliance on institutional care.

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BACKGROUND: Addressing the growing burden of mental diseases is a public health priority. Nevertheless, many countries lack reliable estimates of the proportion of the population affected, which are crucial for health and social policy planning. This study aimed to collect existing evidence on the prevalence of mental diseases in Austria. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted using MeSH, EMTREE and free-text terms in seven bibliographic databases. In addition, the references of included papers and relevant Austria-specific websites were searched. Articles published after 1996 pertaining to the Austrian adult population and presenting prevalence data for mental diseases were included in the analysis. RESULTS: A total of 2612 records were identified in the database search, 19 of which were included in the analysis, 13 were community-based studies and 6 examined institutionalized populations. Sample sizes ranged from 200 to 15,474. The evidence was centered around depression (n = 6, 32%), eating disorders (n = 4, 21%) and alcohol dependence (n = 3, 16%). While most studies (n = 10, 53%) used questionnaires and scales to identify mental diseases, seven studies used structured clinical interviews, and two studies examined use of psychotropic drugs. Due to the diversity of methodologies, no statistical pooling of prevalence estimates was possible. CONCLUSION: Information on the prevalence of mental diseases in Austria is limited and comparability between studies is restricted. A variety of diagnostic instruments, targeted populations and investigated diseases contribute to discrepancies in the prevalence rates. A systematic, large-scale study on the prevalence of mental diseases in Austria is needed for comprehensive and robust epidemiological evidence.

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This article studies rural-urban disparities in unmet long-term care (LTC) needs in China. Firstly, it investigates the prevalence of unmet LTC needs for three populations which differ according to the extent of LTC needs. Secondly, it examines the impact of having rural or urban hukou registration status and rural or urban residence. The analysis is based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2013. The broadly, intermediately and narrowly defined LTC population comprises, respectively, 3,682, 1002 and 446 functionally disabled people aged 45 and older. The role of hukou status and rural/urban residence on unmet needs are examined by applying four logistic regression models for each population. We find that rural hukou holders are significantly more likely to have unmet needs in all three populations regardless of their residency. With narrower definitions of the population in need of care, the effects of rural hukou status on unmet needs strengthen. In contrast to earlier studies, our results indicate that it is hukou status rather than place of residence which exacerbates rural-urban disparities in unmet LTC needs. Reducing unmet LTC needs and existing rural-urban disparities therefore requires not only more universal LTC coverage, but also a reduction of the specific access barriers arising from the hukou system.

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BACKGROUND: Many women in mid or later life from Central and Eastern Europe commute for live-in 24-hour care work to Austria. In addition to paid care work abroad, the majority of women in this age group is confronted with informal (family) care obligations towards children, towards older relatives or towards grandchildren. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the patterns of re-organising these informal care obligations (childcare, long-term care and domestic work) in the respective home country and to analyse the factors that determine the re-organisation. METHODS: The study builds on qualitative interviews with 20 migrant care workers aged 40years and over, 9 Romanian and 11 Slovakian women providing 24-hour care work in Austria. RESULTS: All interviewees commute in 2- to 4-weekly shifts between the home country and Austria and report multiple informal care obligations towards family members in the respective home country. In most cases, members of the nuclear and extended family, and in many cases husbands or partners of migrant care workers, act as the main substitute caregivers. Institutional care provision plays a more important role for child care as against for older people in need of care for whom care services are hardly available or accessible in the countries observed. DISCUSSION: While re-organisation depends much on the specific family constellations, strong assumptions towards family care, the limitations in (monetary) resources and the lack of public welfare provisions strongly co-determine the arrangements.

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BACKGROUND: Equitable access to essential medicines is a major challenge for policy-makers world-wide, including Central and Eastern European countries. Member States of the European Union situated in Central and Eastern Europe have publicly funded pharmaceutical reimbursement systems that should promote accessibility and affordability of, at least essential medicines. However, there is no knowledge whether socioeconomic inequalities exist in these countries. Against this backdrop, this study analyses whether socioeconomic determinants influence the use of prescribed and non-prescribed medicines in eight Central and Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia). Further, the study discusses observed (in)equalities in medicine use in the context of the pharmaceutical policy framework and the implementation in these countries. METHODS: The study is based on cross-sectional data from the first wave of the European Health Interview Survey (2007-2009). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out to determine the association between socioeconomic status (measured by employment status, education, income; controlled for age, gender, health status) and medicine use (prescribed and non-prescribed medicines). This was supplemented by a pharmaceutical policy analysis based on indicators in four policy dimensions (sustainable funding, affordability, availability and accessibility, and rational selection and use of medicines). RESULTS: Overall, the analysis showed a gradient favouring individuals from higher socioeconomic groups in the consumption of non-prescribed medicines in the eight surveyed countries, and for prescribed medicines in three countries (Latvia, Poland, Romania). The pharmaceutical systems in the eight countries were, to varying degrees, characterized by a lack of (public) funding, thus resulting in high and growing shares of private financing (including co-payments for prescribed medicines), inefficiencies in the selection of medicines into reimbursement and limitations in medicines availability. CONCLUSION: Pharmaceutical policies aiming at reducing inequalities in medicine use require not only a consideration of the role of co-payments and other private expenditure but also adequate investment in medicines and transparent and clear processes regarding the inclusion of medicines into reimbursement.

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BACKGROUND: Equitable access to health care is a goal subscribed to in many European economies. But while a growing body of literature studies socioeconomic inequalities in health service use, relatively little is still known about inequalities in medicine consumption. Against this background, this study investigates the (socioeconomic) determinants of medicine use in the Austrian context. METHODS: Multivariate logistic regressions were estimated based on the European Health Interview Survey, including representative information of the Austrian population above age 25 (n = 13 291) for 2006/2007. As dependent variables, we used prescribed and non-prescribed medicine consumption as well as prescribed polypharmacy. Socioeconomic status was operationalized by employment status, education and net equivalent income. Health indicators (self-assessed health, chronic conditions), demographic characteristics (age, sex) and outpatient visits were included as control variables. RESULTS: Socioeconomic status revealed opposing utilization patterns: while individuals with higher education and income were more likely to consume non-prescribed medicines, the less educated were more likely to take prescribed medicines. Lower socioeconomic groups also showed a higher likelihood for prescribed polypharmacy. For the consumption of both medicine types, the main socioeconomic determinant was high income. In an additional analysis, lower socioeconomic groups were found to more likely report prescription purposes as the main reason for consulting a practitioner. CONCLUSION: These results point to different behavioural responses to ill health, not least determined by institutional incentives in the Austrian health care system.

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BACKGROUND AND AIM: Long-term care (LTC) in Hungary is provided in four major ways: day care, nursing, chronic care, and rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to explore the financing of LTC in Hungary, with a disease-specific focus on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. DATA AND METHODS: Data were derived from the National Health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA). For 2012, we analyzed the following indicators: number of patients and cases, crude and weighted hospital days, and health insurance expenditure. RESULTS: The annual health insurance expenditure of LTC was 112.6 million EUR in Hungary in 2012 and covered 209,000 patients (225,000 cases). The NHIFA spent 0.69 million EUR for the LTC of 976 patients with RA. The annual health insurance cost per patient was significantly (by 32%) higher for patients with RA (710 EUR) than the average cost of all patients (538 EUR). The average length of stay was also higher for patients with RA (19.7 days) than for the general LTC population (17.4 days). CONCLUSIONS: The cost of LTC of patients with RA is higher than the average cost of the general LTC patient population. Early treatment of RA patients could contribute to decreasing LTC expenditure. More generally, health technology assessment can inform future LTC funding debates in Central and Eastern European countries by putting more emphasis on LTC utilization and costs.

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Transnational medical travel has gained attention recently as a strategy for patients to obtain care that is higher quality, costs less, or offers improved access relative to care provided within their home countries. This article examines institutional environments in the European Union and United States that influence transnational medical travel, describes the conceptual model of demand for medical travel, and illustrates individual dimensions in the conceptual model of medical travel using a series of case studies. The conceptual model of medical travel is predicated on Andersen's behavioral model of health services. Transnational medical travel is a heterogeneous phenomenon that is influenced by a number of patient-related factors and by the institutional environment in which the patient resides. While cost, access, and quality are commonly cited factors that influence a patient's decision regarding where to seek care, multiple factors may simultaneously influence the decision about the destination for care, including culture, social factors, and the institutional environment. The conceptual framework addresses the patient-related factors that influence where a patient seeks care. This framework can help researchers and regulatory bodies to evaluate the opportunities and the risks of transnational medical travel and help providers and governments to develop international patient programs.

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This article discusses the development of the home care sector in Austria. It analyses what impacts the interplay of the traditional family orientation to care, a universal cash-for-care scheme (reaching about 5% of the population) and a growing migrant care sector have on formal home care in Austria. The article is based on an analysis of research papers, policy documents and statistical data covering the period from the introduction of the cash-for-care scheme in 1993 up to 2011. Some authors have argued that generous cash benefits with no direct link to service use - as in the case of Austria - limit the development of home care, particularly in countries with a traditionally strong family orientation towards long-term care. Additionally, a tradition of family care and an emphasis on cash benefits may be conducive to the employment of migrant carers in private households, as a potential substitute for both family care and formal care. Despite this context, Austria has seen a substantial increase in formal home care over the past two decades. This has been driven by clients using their increased purchasing power and by policy priorities emphasising the extension of home care. Migrant care work was regularised in 2007, and the analysis suggests that while migrant care has usually worked as a substitute for other care arrangements, migrant care can also become a more integral element of care schemes. The article concludes that family orientation, unconditional cash benefits and the use of migrant carers do not necessarily preclude the development of a strong social service sector. However, there is a risk that budgetary limitations will primarily affect social service development.

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OBJECTIVE: The Austrian long-term care system covers all types of long-term chronic diseases and handicaps and is based on a payment for care scheme. The benefit is directed to care recipients, who are - in the outpatient sector - largely free in how to use it. Herewith, the payment for care scheme also has a significant impact on the provision of informal care. The paper studies this impact for the particular case of informal care provided for mentally ill people. METHODS: The analysis is based on a questionnaire survey of persons that are providing informal care to mentally ill people in Austria. The data is confronted with results from other studies on informal care provision in Austria. RESULTS: The study shows specific characteristics of informal long-term care for people with mental illness which is associated with specific burdens for the informal carers. Carers and care recipients benefit only to a moderate extent from public long-term care benefits and bear comparably high material and social costs. CONCLUSIONS: The cash-oriented long-term care system in Austria offers only limited support for the particular case of informal care provided for mentally ill people. The long-term care system needs to be tailored to the special needs of both carer and care recipient in order to achieve the stated aim of self-determination and freedom of choice.

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OBJECTIVE: The article studies the role of financing mental health care for the mental health care service structure in the process of moving towards a patient-oriented and decentralised mental health care system. METHOD: The analysis is based on a description of the Austrian mental health care financing system and a discourse-analytical examination of reform documents and interviews with key actors in this country. RESULTS: Existing structures of mental health care services are a reflection of mental health care financing structures. Reform goals are in various forms linked to financing issues. However, an explicit discussion of the finance issues in reform documents is widely missing. CONCLUSIONS: Adapting the finance of mental health care to new paradigms of mental health care provision requires not just technical modifications, but also improved transparency of processes and implications involved.

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