Public Health Management and Policy Education and Training: Czech Republic

The general status of the health care (HC) system in the Czech Republic has been determined by a quite radical and rapid reform process that started in the early 90s. It was shaped by the relatively high capacities of the old Czech HC system and a widely shared willingness to increase HC resources in the first year of the reform. The reform itself has introduced a new system of public health insurance and changed completely the situation with respect to HC providers’ autonomy and financial conditions. The reform has introduced a new system of public health insurance and changed completely the situation of HC providers in terms of their autonomy and financial conditions. It also reversed the set of measures and tools available to public authorities reformulating health policy. It brought a new player into the system – an independent payer -health insurance companies (HICs).