Health care and social security

Abstract

Today, one cannot speak of health care and the connection between health care and social security without mentioning the premise of the so-called right to health.1 Since World War II and under the impact of the World Health Organization and the generally prevailing desire to lay down social constitutional rights in respect of the public health system, the right to health has increasingly become a major concern. In the abstract, this right to health is not an absolute and individually enforceable right. It could be compared to the so-called right to work. The right to health, as proposed by the WHO, obliges authorities to create conditions such as to enable citizens to live in optimal circumstances with regard to their health. In the same way, authorities are obliged, for instance, to create optimal conditions for optimal work opportunities or full employment. The creation, maintenance and, wherever possible, improvement of such conditions is the task of the public health system. This implies that every individual must, in so far as is possible, be given a share of public health provision in order to be able to assume his personal responsibility with regard to the health care obligation. This means that, when authorities take health measures — i. e. lay down rules and regulations for health care — such measures must be as comprehensive as possible and, consequently, comprise the fewest possible exceptions. In other words, such health measures and provisions must be available to every citizen who requires them. Furthermore, this abstract right to health implies that, when authorities make financial means available to private institutions responsible for providing health care, the principle of equality must be observed. Finally, this right implies that special different measures can be permitted only in special circumstances, for instance as regards special groups.