ABSTRACT
Introduction The German healthcare system, in its organisation, financing and service provi sion, is based on the 'Bismarck Model' of social or public insurance. Sizeable private elements exist within the system, in the form of co-payments required for utilisation of the benefits or services granted by the Social Health Insurance (SHI) services; private health insurance coverage for the more affluent, purchased either in lieu of social health insurance or as a supplement; private purchase of health goods and services and private provision of health services through officebased physicians and pharmacists; and privately owned hospitals.
