[1]
Press release
HEALTH CARE PRIVATISATION AND AUSTERITY LEFT EU-COUNTRIES ILL PREPARED TO
DEAL WITH PANDEMIC
_Brussels, 27 January 2021_
FROM HOSPITALS TO CARE HOMES, THE OUTSOURCING AND PRIVATISATION OF
HEALTHCARE, IN COMBINATION WITH VARIOUS AUSTERITY POLICIES, HAVE
SIGNIFICANTLY DEGRADED EU MEMBER STATES’ CAPACITY TO DEAL EFFECTIVELY
WITH COVID-19, COSTING EXTRA LIVES. A NEW REPORT [2] BY LOBBY WATCHDOG
CORPORATE EUROPE OBSERVATORY (CEO) PUBLISHED TODAY SHOWS THAT NEOLIBERAL
REFORMS THAT WEAKENED PUBLIC HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS WERE IN PART THE RESULT OF
EU POLICY PRESSURES [1]. PRIVATE HOSPITALS, MEANWHILE, ARE LOBBYING TO
FURTHER EXPAND THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND GET A SLICE OF THE EU’S
CORONA CRISIS RECOVERY FUNDS.
The new report – drawing upon documents obtained via ‘Freedom of
Information’ requests – shows an alarming bill of health for Europe’s
health care policy. The marketisation of health and long-term care, the
push for Public Private Partnerships, and the public spending cuts
encouraged by EU economic governance processes like the European Semester
[2], have all contributed to the increased privatisation of health and
long-term care services.
Neoliberal reforms have had disastrous implications for health and care
systems’ ability to handle the pandemic. Health budget cuts have led to
understaffing and reduced total hospital bed numbers. The rise of private
hospitals goes hand in hand with a fall in intensive care beds, which are
less profitable for private companies. A UNDP analysis [3] found that
healthcare privatisation contributed to more deaths from COVID-19.
EU pressure to cut public spending (including via the European Semester
process) has contributed to the commercialisation of the healthcare and
elderly care sectors, with catastrophic effects during COVID-19,
particularly in care homes [4]. CEO’s research shows that including
healthcare in the EU’s ‘economic governance’ recommendations was a
priority of BusinessEurope, one of the most powerful corporate lobby groups
in Brussels. Documents released via FOI show that the European Commissions
consulted with private healthcare providers when drafting its European
Semester Country Reports.
The new report documents the influence of the private healthcare lobby
including the European Union of Private Hospitals (UEHP), a Brussels-based
lobby group active promoting an “internal market in the field of
healthcare”. Abusing the pandemic, the private hospitals lobby is
demanding more public money, including from EU Recovery Funds, under the
flag of “a level playing field” between public and private hospitals.
In November 2020 the European Commission presented its initial proposal for
a European Health Union [5], which would give the EU more power over health
policy. As the Health Union is being shaped, CEO’s report highlights the
need to safeguard the public not-for-profit nature of healthcare provision
in Europe, and ensure that COVID-19 recovery funds are not siphoned off to
for-profit providers. Trade unions and public health activists are
demanding the EU stops pushing for commercialisation and privatisation that
undermine public healthcare systems, and to not to return to pre-COVID-19
austerity rules.
OLIVIER HOEDMAN, RESEARCHER AT CORPORATE EUROPE OBSERVATORY (CEO), SAID:
“As decision-making on the EU Health Union gathers pace, the EU needs to
end its neoliberal policies that have resulted in damaging budget cuts and
promoted the privatisation and commercialisation of healthcare and elderly
care systems, thereby weakening Europe’s pandemic preparedness. Without
learning from past mistakes [6], the EU Health Union will be built on very
unhealthy foundations.”
“CEO and other NGOs, like the European Public Services Union and the
European Network against the Commercialization and Privatization of Health
and Social Protection, demand that the EU ignores the private sector
lobbyists now whispering in its ear, and reverses course on the kind of
economic governance which has accelerated healthcare liberalisation.
Instead it should put public provision at the centre of its strategy, or
risk putting more lives at stake.” [7]
ENDS
For more information or interview requests, please contact:
Olivier Hoedeman (English, Danish, Dutch) oliv...@corporateeurope.org, +32
4 74486545
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. You’ll find the report ‘When the market becomes deadly: How
pressures towards privatisation of health and long-term care put Europe on
a poor footing for a pandemic’ here [2].
2. The European Semester: the economic governance procedure that affects
the most countries is the European Semester. Set up in the early stages of
the eurocrisis, the European Semester was designed as a tool to keep member
states’ economic and fiscal policies under closer surveillance. Each year
the Commission drafts recommendations to every member state, pushing for
austerity driven policies.
3.‘The study ‘Privatization and Pandemic: A Cross-Country Analysis of
COVID-19 Rates and Health-Care Financing Structures [3]:’ by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) looking at the effect of healthcare
privatisation on COVID-19 found that a “10% increase in private health
expenditure relates to a 4.3% increase in COVID-19 cases and a 4.9%
increase in COVID-19 related mortality”.
4. Health has been an important and recurring theme since the first
European Semester in 2011. In total, the European Commission has issued 107
recommendations related to the health sector (including ‘long term
care’). Bearing in mind that each country typically received 4-5
recommendations annually, this shows health to be a major issue.
5. As part of its crisis response policies the EU has launched a €9.4
billion EU4Health funding programme [4] for 2021-2027, “to build
resilient health systems in the EU to better equip us for the future”.
Alongside proposed measures to tackle cross-border health threats and make
medicines available and affordable, EU4Health includes a third pillar of
‘strengthening health systems’. Under this point, the Commission wants
to “improve accessibility, efficiency and resilience of health systems”
and “reduce inequalities in accessing health care”. Concrete proposals
for strengthening health systems are still to be presented.
6. At a time when the evidence against commercialisation of healthcare is
mounting, the Commission accepted help from private consultancy giant
McKinsey (known for its role in increasing the privatisation of the UK NHS)
in its COVID-19 crisis response. The Commission has refused CEO access to
some of the key documents about the precise role of McKinsey and its
advice, keeping the public in the dark.
7. Trade unions and campaigning groups, together with thousands of health
and social care workers, have been demonstrating for increased health care
funding [5], better pay and conditions for workers, increased staffing, and
a block on closures and privatisation. On 7 April 2021 (World Health Day
[6]), there is the Day of Action for #Health4All, coordinated by the
European Network Against the Commercialisation and Privatisation of Health
and Social Protection [7]. This day of action will focus on the European
Citizens Initiative [8] and the demand to invest more in healthcare and
health
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