Minister of Health Kristján Þór Júlíusson said that he does not support privatising health care in Iceland, but does support privately managed care.
Addressing parliament, Kristján said that people would do well to understand the distinction between privatisation and private management of health care.
“There are no plans to privatise health care in this country as long as I hold this office,” he told his colleagues. “On the other hand, there is a clear difference between privatisation and private management. Private management in health care has worked.”
The minister cited as an example the Salastöðin health clinic in Kópavogur, which is privately managed, although it has a contract with the Ministry of Health.
“Where the government has a contract with an individual,” said the minister, “It is outlined what kind of work they do, what results they must show, and how supervision of this practice is to be conducted.”
Kristján added that he is particularly interested in changing the law regarding hospital and clinic fees, in order to “evenly redistribute the burden of costs for those who are hit hardest” by them. He added that he believes there is multipartisan support for this measure.
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