Transformation of Czech Healthcare System

Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide a basic overview of the transformation of the Czech health care system after the end of the socialist regime. Given that the overall transformation of the economy is a very demanding process, this article focuses primarily on one of the main components of social policy namely the health care policy of the relevant health system. In 1948, the Czech health service was transferred from the Bismarck system of financing health care to Semashko system. This system of financing health care through tax systems was in the Czech Republic until 1990, when it began transforming it back into the Bismarck system. The end of the article is an evaluation of the effectiveness of the system, but the main objective is the transformation process that ended in the late 1990s and the subsequent development of socio-economic and health indicators.