European Policy Analysis Volume 2, Number 2, Winter 2016 | Page 143

Migration of Greek Physicians to Germany
attractive due to high salaries . However , the presence of Greece in this list is certainly also noteworthy . Nevertheless , of the 86 physicians that migrated to Greece , just seven of them held German citizenship ; thus it appears a large portion of Greek physicians in the German health sector return to their home country after a number of years , or after completing medical specialization training .
The Health Sectors as Dynamic Fields for the Migration of Physicians
As already explained in the theoretical part of this article , the health sectors of both countries must be analyzed . In the following , the German health system , which is structured according to framework of the Bismarck model , will be presented first , followed by the Greek health system , the organization of which has characteristics typical of both the Bismarck model and of the Beveridge model .
Overview of the German Health System
Since 1883 , when the Imperial Chancellor and Prussian Prime Minister , Otto von Bismarck , introduced a national system of social programs and health insurance , the German health sector has possessed characteristics of the socalled Bismarckian system , mainly based economically on the social security contributions of employers and employees . Since its establishment , the German health system has kept its corporatist elements , such as the participation of some privileged central interest groups in the formulation and implementation of the health policy ( Bandelow 2004 , 49 ).
Finance , Organization . In accordance with the structuring of the German state , the health sector in Germany has also adopted federal elements . This means that the coordination and management of the health sector is diffused , but clearly allocated to different levels . While the government legislates and sets the strategies for health care policy , mainly through the Ministry of Health ( MoH ), the federal states are responsible for the strategy and funding of hospital care services . Meanwhile , other self-ruling actors — on the one hand , the statutory health insurance companies as the main payers of health services in Germany , on the other , basically the resident physicians through their regional association of Social Health Insurance ( SHI ) Physicians ( KVen )— are
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