What is it about?
Lawmakers have difficulties regulating discretion over priority setting in healthcare. This article discusses the Finnish service basket and deadlines for accessing care, and the problems which these regulatory measures pose for priority setting, particularly in relation to the ethical and financial sustainability of priority setting in Finland.
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Why is it important?
The lawmaker's ability to regulate priority setting is important, as it plays a part in the realization of the right to health. In Finland, the basic features of the right to health have to be defined in parliamentary legislation. However, the criteria for priority setting provided for in current legislation do not give professionals the support they need in developing coherent and legitimate priority setting processes.
Perspectives
I hope this article demonstrates the need for dialogue on priority setting between legal research and other disciplines. Law provides an important basis for the organization and provision of public services, and regulation can be used to facilitate the adoption of best practices developed by priority setting research carried out within other disciplines. Parallel with discussing questions such as informed consent, IP rights and privacy in relation to new emerging health technologies, medical law and health law research should engage more in questions of equal access and the right to health at the level of the healthcare system. I hope this article encourages professionals working on priority setting to get in touch, and examine how their work relates to the right to health.
Kaisa-Maria Kimmel
University of Lapland
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Challenges in regulating priority setting in healthcare: A Finnish perspective on the lawmaker’s dilemma, Medical Law International, June 2019, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0968533219881177.
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