Social Protection in Turkey: Fragmented — and Disconnected from the Supply of Hospital Care

Abstract

While Turkey's social protection structure and its hospital system both comprise a number of arrangements and strata predicated on the occupational situation of beneficiaries, there is no equivalence between them, in terms of either scope of benefits provided, benefit conditions or terms of reimbursement. Different social protection schemes and types of hospital are effectively sealed off from each other: the resulting fragmentation of access to care is at the origin of shortcomings in the social security coverage of the population. It explains the emergence of stopgap arrangements devised by various social actors, including the State, charitable foundations, community associations, municipal authorities and private enterprise.