During the CoronaVirus pandemic, the focus of the politicians went towards the possible solutions for the current crisis, and not to prevent the next one. A European framework can be imposed to make up a union health system, making it easier for the citizens of Europe to receive medical services all across Europe. It also assists in using all the medical potential around Europe, which is not homogenously distributed. Germany and other northern member states can help the southern part to rebuild its domestic health care system. Scandinavian countries can also use this framework to privatise their current system. A massive debt due to the CoronaVirus will be on Europeans’ shoulders, forcing the policymakers to implement austerity policies in the upcoming decade. One aspect of these policies could be to reduce public debt in the health sector that will have been caused by the pandemic.
The new system should include a semi-private unified system that supports every single citizen in the European Union with the necessary services. One barrier to implementing such a policy is domestic fiscal system among the countries. Euro was a successful attempt to unify the monetary sector of the European economy, while the effort to unify the public expenditures policy has not succeeded as much as the currency. General guidance made of necessary directives and regulations can be useful in helping the Union address the governors on their tax income and expenditure on education and health.
CoronaVirus will not be the last pandemic in the world. Furthermore, it is plausible to think that the current crisis weakens the local hospitals and national health systems. The crisis will require new investments, whether public or private, in the health care sector and training new labour force. Governments and the EU commission have to ask their strategists to find ways to attract investors in the new market. The health sector is a very complicated system of payments and legal entities among the governments, insurance companies and individuals. To find ways to attract funds, one should consider first the legal issues and then finding means of profitability.
One key issue that could be addressed through this brand new system is integrity. EU has formed around the vital idea of integration among countries that started after two world wars. The benefits of unity have helped people and governments forget about the not so bright history among themselves and move forward to becoming one unified land. A modern, profitable and helpful health care system can be spread among all the Eurozone countries first, and if prosperous, Scandinavian nations and Switzerland will ask to join the new treaty after a few years.
One must think of a general policy to save the economy and people at the same time. We need to prioritise health and economic prosperity at once. CoronaVirus has caused us billions of Euros, Dollars and Pounds in Europe, the US and UK. To bounce back, it is necessary that the nations open the borders, as well as their regulations, to each other and more effective integrity. This time Europeans demand a more efficient health system in all of the European countries, for all the citizens and foreign residents. A new health care sector should have economic benefits as well as its social externalities. The massive debt that is being piled due to the pandemic has to be paid back. Politicians, lawyers and companies have to gather in Brussels after we beat the virus to discuss the next steps towards more profit and integrity. It is the time to act; tomorrow might be too late.
Siavash Mohades 