Health Reform: Will the Grand Plan End Up Being A Grand Disappointment?

More than 60 speakers presented current developments and new suggestions on the 2005 health reform at “Puls 2005”, the annual conference for the health care sector staged by seminar organizer IIR from 19 to 21 October 2005. Health care decision and policy makers headed up by Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat and representatives of the health care sector reported on the core elements of the reform, the role of patients and the possibility of improving efficiency in lasting ways. Participants also debated whether the health reform should be viewed as a turning point and whether it actually promoted the efficiency of the health system. On the second day of the conference, the focus was on the core elements of the health reform: the structural plan for Austrian health care and interface management, whether and by what means an intersectoral supply of services can be achieved in cooperation with physicians with established practices. The health spokesmen for the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and for the Greens, Dr. Erwin Rasinger and Dr. Kurt Grünewald, respectively, talked about the advantages and disadvantages of the planned reforms and about crucial issues for the future of health care. On the last day, participants concentrated on the topic of health care financing and on possible forms of financing to ensure the long-term existence of the current health care system in Austria.