Our health policy is centred around patients, and the quality of the medical provision and long-term care they receive. Everyone should benefit from advances in medical technology. At the same time, it is necessary to balance revenues and expenditure across the statutory health insurance system. The Committee on Health therefore works in a field that is subject to many competing demands. Its agenda features topics such as the funding of statutory health insurance, the redefinition of the criteria used to assess need for long-term care and the ensuring the availability of medical care in all areas of the country. Medical ethics issues such as organ donations and euthanasia constitute another priority area.
