Health care and migration : what data can tell us of the hard-to-measure impact of migrants on the European health systems

Abstract

Nowadays migration is one of the key issues in the international as well as in the European political and public debate. It represents a key challenge for modern societies and, together with the adaptation of welfare, has been extensively investigated in social sciences. One of the most compelling challenges consists in the adaptation of health systems to migration’s new needs. The European Union (EU) presents among its member states (MS) highly differentiated situations in terms of healthcare provision models, contribution systems, and integration policies adopted towards foreigners. Compared to other countries with a longer migratory tradition, the differences in access and use of health systems by intra-EU migrants and migrants from third countries are still considerable within EU MS, and further diversified based on migrants’ legal status. Starting from the traditional types of healthcare systems, a more specific purpose will be to establish and measure a systematic relationship between the costs and performance of health systems, migratory care demand, and the migrants’ contribution to the European systems.