Equal access to healthcare in national legislations : how do Croatia, Germany, Poland, and Slovenia counteract discrimination in healthcare?

Bielińska-Kowalewska, Katarzyna (author), Chowaniec, Anna (author), Doričić, Robert (author), Nowak, Marianne (author), Orzechowski, Marcin (author), Ramšak, Mojca (author), Łuków, Paweł (author), Muzur, Amir (author), Zupanič Slavec, Zvonka (author), Steger, Florian (author)

Background: The aim of the study was a comparative analysis of legislative measures against discrimination in healthcare on the grounds of a) race and ethnicity, b) religion and belief, and c) gender identity and sexual orientation in Croatia, Germany, Poland and Slovenia. Methods: We conducted a search for documents in national legal databases and reviewed legal commentaries, scientific literature and official reports of equality bodies. We integrated a comparative method with text analysis and the critical interpretive approach. The documents were examined in their original languages: Croatian, German, Polish, and Slovenian. Results: All examined states prohibit discrimination and guarantee the right to healthcare on the constitutional level. However, there are significant differences among them on the statutory level, regarding both anti-discriminatory legal measures and other legislation affecting access to healthcare for groups of diverse race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or gender identity. Croatia and Slovenia show the most comprehensive legislation concerning nondiscrimination in healthcare in comparison to Germany and even more Poland. Except for Slovenia, explicit provisions protecting equal access for members of the above mentioned groups are insufficiently represented in healthcare legislation. Conclusions: The study identified legislative barriers to access to healthcare for persons of diverse race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or gender identity in Croatia, Germany, Poland and Slovenia. The discrepancies in the level of implementation of anti-discriminatory measures among these states show that there is a need for comprehensive EU-wide regulations, which would implement the principle of equal treatment in the specific context of healthcare. General anti-discrimination regulations should be strengthened by inclusion of anti-discrimination provisions directly into national legislation relating specifically to the area of healthcare.

• Language: English
• Keywords: healthcare access, discrimination, ethics, national legislation, Croatia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: MF - Faculty of Medicine
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2022
• Number of pages: 11 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 22, art. 100
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-187847
• UDC: 614.39:39(4)
• ISSN on article: 1472-6963
• DOI: 10.1186/s12913-021-07453-6
• COBISS.SI-ID: 95019779
• Publication date in RUL: 15.09.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: BMC health services research
• Shortened title: BMC health serv. res.
• Publisher: Springer Nature
• ISSN: 1472-6963
• COBISS.SI-ID: 2438932

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: zdravstvena oskrba, dostopnost, etika, diskriminacija, zakonodaja, Nemčija, Poljska, Hrvaška, Slovenija