Intra-EU mobility and national healthcare systems. Policies and practices in Belgium and Spain

Healthcare systems in Europe are characterised by significant differences in terms of regulation, financing and service provision. This variation in the institutional structure of healthcare systems implies differences in how healthcare solidarity is balanced with individual responsibility for healthcare and healthcare costs. Moreover, differences in the institutional structure of healthcare systems influence people’s attitudes towards healthcare solidarity and the role of the state in guaranteeing healthcare to the population. How do different healthcare systems interact with intra-EU mobility? Are differences in healthcare solidarity in policies and public attitudes across countries characterised by different healthcare regimes when it comes to mobile EU citizens? Focusing on the cases of Belgium and Spain, two MSs characterised by different healthcare regimes (SHI in Belgium, NHS in Spain), this document provides a descriptive analysis of the ways in which the two different healthcare systems interact with intra-EU mobility. For each country, the document will present an overview of the main characteristics of the healthcare system, of the policies regulating the access to residency and healthcare rights for different categories of mobile EU citizens, as well as to the changing attitudes towards the healthcare-EU mobility nexus over the last decades.