THE HEALTH-CARE STATE IN EUROPE - CONVERGENCE OR DIVERGENCE

The role of the state in the provision of health care in the capitalist states of Europe is examined along three dimensions: the extent to which states ensure medical treatment as a right of citizenship; the role they play in financing health care; and the part they play in the delivery of care. The evidence suggests that there are great variations in the scope and structure of the health-care state. Furthermore, states seem to be diverging from, rather than converging towards, each other.