Prevalence and Generosity of Health Insurance Coverage: A Comparison of EU Member States

The concept of health insurance coverage can be resolved into two different components: “prevalence” (who is insured), and “generosity” (what is guaranteed) of the insurance. In this article, we first provide data on the prevalence of health insurance, whether public or private, in the EU member countries. Residents in EU countries without primary health insurance currently amount to 7.7 million (corresponding to 1.5% of the population). To appraise the “generosity” of insurance coverage, we use two indicators: out-of-pocket expenditure and self-reported “unmet medical needs”. What emerges is a positive, albeit moderately intense, relationship between prevalence and generosity of health insurance coverage.