## A pathway to sustainable healthcare financing: The next focus for PHSSR’s EU Expert Advisory Group

22 November 2024

Despite a prominent focus on health policy in the previous EU mandate, priorities such as defence, migration and EU enlargement are expected to dominate the EU political and policy agenda—and spending—in the next five years. Simultaneously, Member States continue to face tight national budgets, complicating efforts to allocate sufficient funding for healthcare. But challenges to health systems are also accumulating, such as climate change, conflict, economic instability, and emerging infectious diseases. These highlight the urgent need for sustainable healthcare financing solutions—including dedicated funding—at the EU level to ensure health systems across the region are strengthened, resilient, and adequately supported in the face of competing priorities.In response to this need, PHSSR is leveraging expert perspectives on sustainable healthcare financing and has broadened the PHSSR EU Expert Advisory Group to include new members who are leading experts in health and health financing policy in Europe.The Expert Advisory Group will conduct a high-level literature review on EU-level funding mechanisms, including country case studies on the use of EU funding in health, and how these mechanisms impact the strength, sustainability and resilience of EU Member States’ health systems.From this work, an EU policy report on sustainable healthcare financing will be developed providing targeted insights and actionable, consensus-based recommendations around pressing challenges, with a launch anticipated at a high-level meeting in the spring of next year._______The Expert Advisory Group includes policymakers, experts with direct experience from both EU and national health authorities, academics, researchers and patient representatives. A full list of members, including those who contributed to last year’s inaugural policy report ‘A Stitch in Time: Early Intervention to Tackle Europe’s NCD Crisis’, is available here.Members of the Expert Advisory Group involved in the sustainable healthcare financing project:Professor Elias Mossialos, Brian Abel-Smith Professor of Health Policy at the London School of Economics (LSE) and Director of LSE Health. Professor Kostas Athanasakis, Assistant Professor in Health Economics and Health Technology Assessment, Department of Public Health Policy, University of West Attica. Stine Bosse, Member of the European Parliament (Renew Europe, Denmark), Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Public Health (SANT), Substitute Member in the Committee on Budgets (BUDG).Anne Bucher, Non-residential Fellow, Bruegel, former Director-General for Health & Food Safety, DG SANTE, European Commission, former Director for structural reforms and competitiveness, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.Antonella Cardone, CEO, Cancer Patients Europe. Jo de Cock, Former CEO, Belgian National Institute of Health and Disability Insurance (NIHDI). Dr Maja Fjaestad, Adjunct professor, senior advisor at the Stockholm School of Economics. Ernst van Koesveld, Consultant ABDTOPConsult, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands.Victor Negrescu, Vice-President of the European Parliament (S&D, Romania), Member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Public Health (SANT), Member of the Committee on Budgets (BUDG). Former member of the PHSSR Expert Advisory Group and sustainable healthcare financing report co-author.Dimitra Panteli, Programme Manager, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.  Dr Tomislav Sokol, Member of the European Parliament (EPP, Croatia), Member of the European Parliament Committee on Public Health (SANT).Anca Toma, Executive Director, European Patients' Forum (EPF). Ane Fullaondo Zabala, Board Member, European Regional and Local Health Authorities (EUREGHA), Director, Kronikgune Institute for Health Systems Research.