ABSTRACT
In 1991, the agreement between the Public Health Insurance and the Organisation of General Practioners in Denmark included some major changes in the relative price structure, in the limitations of expenditure, and in out-of-hours services. A minor share of county expenditure on health care is financed from state block grants, while the rest is financed through county taxation. The National Board of Health issues guidelines for the planning of specialties. In 1996, an initiative was taken to merge overlapping specialties in the Copenhagen area through an organizational reform made by the Copenhagen Hospital Cooperation. Like the public hospitals, private hospitals are subject to a quality control by the National Board of Health. Private health insurance plays a minor role in Denmark, Only one private health insurance organization exists - Sygeforsikringen 'Danmark' - which, as a non-actuarial and non-profit-making organization, provides supplementary insurance to a varying degree, for most patient co-payments.
