1. EU health institutional and policy developments
Update May 2018
AEMH-FEMS Joint General Assembly, 8-9 June 2018

2. EU Health Budget ( )
Health-related resources will be part of the budget of several priority areas: social protection, research and innovation, the digitisation of society, cohesion and global responsibility. Health policies will get EU funding through various mechanisms, mainly:
European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) -  € 413 million for the health strand
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
Horizon Europe (EU research programme)
Digital Europe Programme
InvestEU Fund
Emergency Aid Rescue (rescEU)

3. Main beneficiaries for health funding in the new ESF+ Programme
Potential candidates for funding:
- national health authorities,
- public and private bodies,
- international organisations,
- non-governmental organisations 
with a general interest in health at EU level and which support the programme's specific objectives.

4. Proposal for a revised Directive on the reuse of Public Sector Information
(April 2018) The European Commission is putting forward a set of measures to increase the availability and boost healthcare data sharing in the EU:
These measures are aimed at:
Better access to and reusability of public sector data
Scientific data sharing in 2018
Private sector data sharing in business-to-business and business-to- governments contexts
Securing citizens' healthcare data while fostering European cooperation

5. EU HEALTH WORKFORCE .
SEPEN - Support for the health workforce planning and forecasting expert network (2017 – 2018) - an expert network on planning and forecasting, the latest action supported by the EU's Health programme and which builds on the previous work of the Joint Action for health workforce planning and forecasting ( ).
Aims:
Develop expert networking to structure and exchange knowledge and provide a forum to address health workforce challenges
Map national health workforce policies in all EU countries
Foster the exchange of knowledge and good practices on health workforce through European workshops
Provide tailored support to some countries on national implementation of health workforce planning
Publicise and document these actions on the website.

6. Cross-border healthcare
New Study (March 2018)  "Cross-border cooperation: capitalising on existing initiatives for cooperation in cross-border regions”
Among the key lessons:
CBHC initiatives are more effective in regions where ease of cooperation is already established, e.g. due to similar welfare traditions or close historical ties.
Support should be given to key players such as regional policy-makers or hospital managers to reduce transaction costs of CBHC. 
Regional networks are likely to represent a low-cost option, but the downsides are that they are likely to remain small-scale and they may create inequities by not benefiting all regions equally.

7. Matrix of collaborating countries ordered by geographical region

8. European Semester: Commission proposes health recommendations to 12 EU countries
Austria
Ensure the sustainability of the health and long-term care systems.
Bulgaria
In line with the National Health Strategy and its action plan, improve access to health services, including by reducing out-of-pocket payments and addressing shortages of health professionals.
Portugal
Strengthen expenditure control, cost effectiveness and adequate budgeting, in particular in the health sector with a focus on the reduction of arrears in hospitals.
Romania 
Improve access to healthcare, including through the shift to outpatient care.
Slovenia
Adopt and implement the healthcare and health insurance act and the planned reform of long-term care.
Slovakia
Implement measures to increase the cost effectiveness of the healthcare system and develop a more effective healthcare workforce strategy.

9. “How to make sense of health system efficiency comparisons?” -
A study by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (March 2018);
Key messages:
The inexorable growth in health expenditure has led to a widespread demand for efficiency improvements.
There is no single metric or set of indicators that will give the complete picture of health system efficiency in a country.
The real causes of any identified inefficiencies need to be carefully identified and analysed to inform good policymaking.
More nuanced indicators require more standardized and detailed cost accounting data and linked datasets and registries.